Heroes of Dreamland, Book 2: Kirby and the Returning Darkness
by ebearskittychan
Summary: Sequel to "Kirby and The Monstrous Lightning." Rated PG for mild fantasy violence and some somewhat scary elements. (Please read my bio for a better description! :D)
1. Kirby and the Returning Darkness

A great and brave knight whose past is shrouded in mystery. His name is Meta Knight.

A young pink puff child, innocent and eager. His name is Kirby.

A young, heroic Waddle Dee, who dreams of being someone important. His name is Bandana Dee.

And a strange, time-traveling Star Warrior who was once a Waddle Dee herself. My name is Sakura Dee.

These four heroes, I and my friends, have defeated one great monster together before, known as the Monstrous Lightning.

But now, an old enemy is arising again.

An enemy that none of us expected to ever return, and yet, I feel like there is something worse yet to come.

And I have recently returned from a mission in another time. I do not remember much of it, but I know it is important, so I hope someone can.

_And so begins the second volume of these heroes' journeys._

**(Author's Note: I just want to give a great big shoutout and thank-you to PrimeJourney, who won the Design-A-Cover contest for this book. Please check out her stories and give her a follow! Poyo on!)**


	2. Prologue

_In the present time:_

It was a quiet summer's evening at Castle DeDeDe. All of the Waddle Dee were hurrying back and forth, making sure everything was put together and ready for the night. Supper was already over, the dishes had already been done, so soon they would be going to bed. Except for the ones who had to guard, of course.

Kirby and Bandana Dee were preparing to play a prank on the king, hiding in a passageway in the walls, snickering excitedly. (Well, Bandana Dee's snickers were silent, but you know what I mean.)

Sword and Blade were randomly patrolling the halls. They called it patrolling, but it was more like just wandering around aimlessly for lack of anything better to do.

The king and Escargoon were in the throne room, preparing to shoot a new episode of one of their stupid TV shows that hardly anyone watched. Kirby and Bandana Dee's plan was to sneak in and mess with the teleprompter so that, for once, it would be Escargoon beating up DeDeDe instead of the other way around. It would be a good way to kill a half-hour and get a few laughs.

Meta Knight was in the Star Warriors' Garden, reading a book on the history of his home planet. The planet had been destroyed by Nightmare a very long time ago, but he still felt homesick at times.

Everything was peaceful as the sun began to set. When it began to be too dark to read, he got up to go inside, and was met in the courtyard by a frazzled Sword and Blade.

"Sir Mety Knight, there's a girl in the throne room scaring DeDeDe and Escargoon out of their wits. She's trying to get him to tell her where you, Kirby, and Bandana Dee are. She says that's all she can remember," Sword explained quickly.

"Narf arggen yip oi!" Blade agreed.

Meta Knight frowned to himself. He was used to his late allies' children showing up and accusing him of killing their parent, but never before had someone shown up asking for Kirby in addition to himself, much less Bandana Dee. "I will investigate," he assured his two followers, taking off and using his bat-like wings to flap toward the throne room.

_A few minutes earlier:_

As the earlier described peacefulness was going on, in one of the rooms of the castle, a bundle lay perfectly still on a shelf. Upon further inspection, one could find the bundle was actually a deep-pink cape wrapped around a sheathed sword and a cherry blossom ribbon. This bundle had been sitting here in this room, (which happened to be Meta Knight's bedroom,) for the past four years, ever since the objects' owner had disappeared.

It had been mostly left to itself, and therefore, being a bundle of inanimate objects, it hadn't really changed at all in this time. But now, the white cherry-blossom shaped gem on the sword's hilt began glow. Soft at first, and then brighter and brighter, this glow continued until suddenly, with a flash of dark pink light, a sleeping Star Warrior appeared in front of the shelf. Since the shelf was about three feet from the ground, this Star Warrior was quickly met with a rude awakening when she landed on the rock floor typical of castles. "Oof," she muttered, the fact that she was a she made obvious by the way her voice sounded.

After lying there for a moment, this strange visitor blinked her eyes open. "Where am I? Where was I before? Who am I? Why do I feel like I've been in a position similar to this before?" she groaned. Sitting up, she somehow remembered that the bundle of items above her was hers. She slowly managed to stand up and pick the items up. Putting the cape on, she let it change into light-pink feathery wings and stretched them. "It's good to have those back," she murmured in satisfaction. Soon she had put the ribbon in its old spot on her head, and had put her sword in its proper place as well.

"Now to attend to the matter of, 'where the heck am I?" she sighed aloud. Not recognizing her surroundings, she decided to fly around the area in the hopes of finding something to trigger her memory.

She seemed to be in a castle, and something inside her told her she should recognize it. As she flew, three names came back to her. "Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandana Dee," she whispered, wishing she could remember the people that went with those names.

Soon, she arrived at a room that apparently was the throne room, as there was a large penguin wearing royal robes inside. He was a surrounded by a snail and a host of small red-orange creatures that she immediately felt a sort of affection for. Waddle Dee. She didn't know how she remembered that's what they were called, but she also remembered that they were, for the most part, friendly.

Apparently, though, these Waddle Dee didn't think she looked friendly, as they all scattered when she entered the room. "Where are you pipsqueaks goin'?" the penguin roared in an annoying fashion. She still couldn't remember who this guy was, but she could already tell she didn't like him.

"They're acting scared, Your Majesty." the snail observed. She didn't like him either.

"Yeah, but of what?" the king grunted.

She finally broke her silence, calling out, "Hey! You! Penguin Guy and Slug Boy!"

They turned and stared at her. "Who do you think you are, shoutin' at me like that?" the penguin thundered. "Don't you know that I am King DeDeDe?"

"Yeah, and that I'm his chief advisor, Escargoon?" the snail added.

Yippee, at least she had real names for them now. "I don't care who you are. I'm a Star Warrior, and I'm looking for three others named Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandana Dee. I don't remember what they look like, but I know it's important that I find them. And those names are all I can remember."

"Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandana Dee? Why, I know where-" Escargoon started, then had his mouth squeezed shut by DeDeDe.

"We've never heard of those folks. Now why don't you go be a Star Warrior somewhere else?" the king suggested with a grin that was just a bit too insincere for her liking.

Drawing her sword, she said, "Let's try this again. I'm looking for three people named Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandana Dee. Where are they?"

Although now nervous, the king and Escargoon continued to just stare at her obstinately. "Fine then," she sighed, beginning to chase them around the room. Of course, being a Star Warrior, she couldn't actually attack them, but they didn't know that.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the two shouted, now screaming too loudly to be of any use. She sighed and stopped chasing them until they calmed down.

As soon as they had heard the two royal stooges' screams and had seen her flying around, sword drawn, Sword and Blade had run to get Meta Knight. And, within minutes, he arrived through a window of the throne room and hid behind a pillar to observe.

"I'm not chasing you anymore, you can calm down now," he heard a voice that sounded familiar sigh in agitation.

"Wh-who are you, anyway?" DeDeDe questioned nervously, cowering behind Escargoon, who suddenly slugged around so he was hiding behind DeDeDe.

Rolling her eyes, she tried to remember. "My name is Sakura," she suddenly announced.

Meta Knight's eyes widened. _Could it really be?_ he wondered excitedly.

DeDeDe tilted his head to one side in confusion. "You ain't Sakura. Sakura is the name Meta Knight gave to the creepy talkin' Waddle Dee. You're not a Waddle Dee, you've got a mouth."

"What?" Sakura asked, disbelieving, as Meta Knight frowned to himself in confusion. He watched as she landed in front of a marble statue of the king not far in front of where he was. She could see her reflection in the smooth marble, and from where he was standing, he could see it too.

"That's strange," she muttered. He nodded to himself in agreement. This was definitely his friend Sakura, but her appearance had indeed changed since they had last met. She was no longer a Waddle Dee, but instead, a Star Warrior with Waddle Dee-like coloring. Her chestnut eyes were exactly the same, though, he was pleased to notice. He felt like her new appearance reminded him of someone else, but he wasn't sure.

Standing there, observing herself, she suddenly saw the reflection of him standing behind her. She spun around and looked at him, confused for a moment, but her eyes soon widened in recognition. "Meta Knight!" she laughed aloud, running over and giving him a hug.

He didn't return the hug, but his eyes began to glow a happy blue. "Sakura, my friend. It is good to see you again," he replied warmly.

Now that she had found one of her friends, more and more of her memories came pouring back. "How long has it been, for you?" she inquired.

"Around four years," he informed her. She seemed different in more respects than just her appearance. She seemed older. Not older as in she seemed elderly, nowhere near that. She just seemed like she had seen and done a lot more in her life than she had the last time they had met. "How long has it been for you?"

She frowned. "I can't remember. I can't remember anything about where I just came from, actually, except that I was there for a pretty long time. Definitely longer than four years."

"Hmm," he murmured. That is why she seemed different, she had spent quite a lot of time in another environment. He of all people especially knew what even just a few years could do to change a person. "I hope you can soon remember what you experienced, as I am very curious to hear what you have been doing."

"Well, trust me, if I knew I would tell you, Sir Knight," she laughed. "What's happened to you in the time I've been gone?"

"Would you believe me if I told you it has been, for the most part, peaceful here in Dreamland?" he asked, his eyes now green in amusement.

"No, not really," she shook her head, smiling disbelievingly. It was strange to see her smiling, but not unpleasant.

"Well, I am sorry to disappoint you then, but that is the truth," he chuckled quietly. "Come, I am sure Kirby and Bandana Dee will be happy to see you. They have grown much since you were last with us."

She grew sad. "I wish I hadn't missed four years of them growing up."

"They have grown much, but there is more about them that has not changed than that which has," he reassured her. "And they there are right now," he pointed to a secret passage opening out not far from them.

"I can't wait to see the look on DeDeDe's face when he reads the tele-whatsit thingy, poyo!" Kirby giggled. Well, his vocabulary had definitely grown while she was gone. At least 'poyo!' was still part of his everyday speech.

"Kirby! Bandana Dee!" she shouted out happily, running over. They greeted her with a strange look. "Oh yeah. Sorry. I've changed, haven't I? It's me, Sakura."

The two hesitated for another moment, but then Bandana Dee touched his forehead to hers. "If you're really Sakura, you will be able to hear me," he tested her, eyes narrowed. He still sounded mostly the same, he was probably around 12 or 13 now.

"Of course I can hear you, Hero Dee," she thought back at him.

He turned to Kirby and nodded eagerly. "Dwee!" he told his friend gleefully.

"You can talk?" Sakura asked in surprise as a now excited Kirby and Bandana Dee gave her a hug.

"Dee!" he replied with a Waddle Dee 'smile.'

"He has indeed developed a one-or-two word vocabulary, just like Sailor Dee. I do not know if you remember him..." Meta Knight explained in amusement.

Shaking her head, she replied, "I don't. But if he can make noise, and he has a good vocabulary in his head, why can he only say 'dee' and 'dwee?'"

Meta Knight shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, my friend."

"I missed you, Sakura poyo!" Kirby sighed. He had grown quite a bit, Meta Knight was only around one-and-a-half times his size now, instead of being twice as big the younger Star Warrior. He was probably around 8 or 9 now, she realized.

"I missed all three of you," Sakura told them, still happily hugging both of her 'little brothers.'

"It's good to have you back," Bandana told her mentally, his forehead touching hers as they hugged.

"Come," Meta Knight announced after a moment. "Sakura, you are tired, are you not? There is still a place for you in the library."

"I _am_ tired. But, if you two still like being read to..." she turned to her young friends with a grin.

"Of course, poyo!" Kirby clapped his hands together while Bandana nodded, 'smiling' again.

"All right then," she sighed happily, turning and leading the party to the secret library, able to remember where it was now.

It was good to be home.


	3. The Other Time, Part 1

_Blossom's POV:_

I get up with the sun this morning. After a good night's sleep, I feel a lot better. At first unsure of what to do, I decide to check out this library's selection. It's pretty good, I actually recognize a handful of titles, but most of the books are completely unfamiliar to me. I sing as I look, a simple song that I think I wrote myself. "I am glad to have served you, you are glad to have served me..."

"You have a pretty voice, ooyo."

"Ack!" I yelp, falling forward onto my face again. Jumping up and turning around, I see that Blue has arrived. Just like yesterday, he's watching me in cool amusement.

"Do you always fall over when someone talks to you, ooyo?" he questions.

"Do you always show up out of thin air and scare people?" I reply, a bit irritated.

Grinning innocently, he shrugs and retorts, "It's a gift." Abruptly changing the subject, he tells me, "That wasn't a real song, ooyo."

"What do you mean?" I ask, surprised.

"I mean, my mommy knows every song there is. She's never sung that one before, so obviously, ooyo, it's not a real song." He nods as if that settles the matter.

I giggle at his childish logic. "What if I wrote it myself, Blue?"

He thinks about it hard for a minute, then states simply, "I still think it's not a real song."

Sighing in amused annoyance, I inquire, "So. Before I start training you, can you tell me where we are?"

He gives me a 'well, duh.' sort of look, like I'm some sort of crazy person or something. "We're in a library, ooyo."

"Well, I can see that much," I sigh. "What planet are we on, I mean?"

Again with the disbelieving look. "We're on Star World, Blossom ooyo. The Planet of the Star Warriors, if you rather."

"Okay, pretend I'm a complete space alien and tell me all about Star World," I tell him.

He looks at me suspiciously. "Are you actually a space alien, ooyo?"

Rolling my eyes, I retort, "I said to pretend that I'm a space alien, not that I am one."

Shrugging, he tells me again, "Star World is the planet of the Star Warriors. This is where all Star Warriors come from. There's several provinces, named things like Courage, Chivalry, Reverence, Strength, and Observant." he pauses a second. "I don't really know what most of that means, Blossom ooyo. I just read it in a book."

Nodding, I reply, "I'll do some research of my own later. Can you at least tell me which province we're in?"

"Yeah. We're in Chivalry, in the River Village area," he grins at me. "I live in River Village, ooyo!"

"Okay." At least I have a bit of an idea of where I am now, although I've never heard of any of those places. Even if I had, I probably would've forgotten, though, come to think of it. I continue to think. The planet of the Star Warriors, huh? I find it fascinating that every section is named after important values of a true warrior, but I don't have time to think about it right now.

I turn my attention back to the little guy. "So. What do you know about being a hero?"

He thinks for a second, then says, "Heroes fight dragons, save princesses, and when they're done, they get to become knights." After pausing a moment, he continues, "Well, that's the way it works in books. Real heroes fight monsters and protect the galaxy, ooyo. But they don't have much to do, the galaxy is a pretty peaceful place these days."

I notice that for a little kid, he has a pretty big vocabulary. I also find it a bit strange that he can read, he seems pretty young to be reading. "How old are you, Blue?"

"Six, ooyo," he answers, then questions, "How old are you, Blossom ooyo?"

"I don't know, really," I admit. I don't think I've just forgotten that, I don't think I ever knew exactly to begin with.

"You don't really know a lot of anything, do you, ooyo?" he points out, not to be mean, but like it's a fact.

Well, he makes up for having a big vocabulary with what he lacks in tact, that's for sure. "I know plenty."

"Well then, tell me one thing you know," he challenges.

I think a moment, then hand him the smaller sword and show him how to hold it properly. "There. I've taught you something already."

He looks at me strangely and goes to inhale it. "Uh-uh," I tell him, catching it out of the air before it disappears into his mouth. "You can learn the other Copy Abilities, but the sword you will learn on its own." I have a really strong sense of deja vu, like that was something someone told me once.

"Why, ooyo?" he tips his head to the side in curiosity, actually seeming interested.

"Because, what do you do if you only know the Copy Abilities and you're about to face a big boss monster, but there's no little monsters to suck up?" I point out.

"I guess I would be doomed, ooyo," he answers, using childish logic again.

"Pretty much. So, you learn one form of attack by itself, and then you can use it whenever you need to."

"Why can't I learn, like, Cutter or Parasol by itself, ooyo?" he asks. So many questions... this is another way it's obvious that he's young.

"Have you ever heard of a hero or a knight who carries an umbrella everywhere?" I laugh.

"I guess not, ooyo," he giggles in reply.

"Besides, the sword is what I know how to use," I explain briefly, putting the smaller sword back in his hand. I've left it in its sheath, obviously, for his protection. I don't think his parents would like it if I was letting their six-year-old run around with a sword. If they were okay with it, I'd be really worried.

After getting my sword, I lead him outside and begin to teach him several basic stances, which he quickly grows bored of. "When do we get to the fun jumping around part, Blossom ooyo?" he grumps.

I think for a minute. "When you first got your Warp Star, could you just fly wherever you wanted with it?"

"No, ooyo..."

"Exactly. You had to learn how to stand on it first, and then how to fly it, and then how to do tricks, right?"

"Yeah, ooyo," he admits. "My dad says I'm a natural, and I'm as good at racing as some of the big kids, but it took me awhile to figure it out, ooyo."

I smile. "The sword is the same way. You can't just swing it around like crazy, you'll hurt yourself. You have to learn the right way to do it. And, yes, it's boring at first, and it can be hard, but trust me. Have patience, it'll be worth it."

He nods at me once, determined. "Okay, Blossom ooyo." It's funny, he doesn't end every sentence with 'ooyo,' (although he does most,) but he always tacks it onto the end of my name.

By the end of the afternoon, he's got most of the basic stances down, and I've let him move on to slowly swinging it back and forth. What we're doing right now is practicing varieties of blocks. I'll tell him what way I'm going to come from, and then ask him what he should do to block, guard, or parry. If someone was watching, it would look like we were having a swordfight in slow motion. He's a natural at this, I somehow had a feeling he would be.

"Are your parents heroes?" I ask suddenly as he ponders whether an underhand or overhand parry is appropriate against my suggested attack.

Murmuring to himself, he looks up at me for a second, then returns to concentrating. "No, ooyo. They're both part of the Knowledge clan, though."

Clan? I have no idea what he's talking about. Something else to research later, I guess. "I think I've worked you hard enough for the day, you can go home now."

"Okay, ooyo. Learning how to use a sword is really meta. Should I come back tomorrow, Blossom ooyo?" he asks, then calls for his Warp Star.

"Meta? What's meta?" I ask him in confusion. The term sounds familiar, but I'm not sure how.

"Oh, meta, ooyo. It's what kids around here say when something's cool or awesome. Instead of saying those things when you like something, you say it's meta, ooyo." He shrugs, then continues, "I don't know why, ooyo. We just do."

I add the term to my ever-growing list of things to look up. "Yeah, you can come back tomorrow, if you want."

"Okay, Blossom ooyo," he waves goodbye from his Warp Star, which has arrived, and flies off. I hear him humming my song as he disappears into the woods. I smile and shake my head, maybe eventually he'll decide it's a 'real' song after all.

I read until the sun begins to set. I learn that even though it's called Star World, this planet is round. It's mostly covered with water, like most life-supporting planets. And, like Blue said, each province is named after an important value from the code of honor. But even though a province is named after a certain value, each province used to completely follow the code.

But I also learn that nowadays, the code of honor has mostly fallen into disuse. There's still a small Star Warrior army, but it's mostly just for show.

Clans, which Blue mentioned, are also mostly a thing of the past. There was a bit of each clan in each province, and each clan studied a specific value in addition to knowing the rest of the code. So, like, the Knowledge clan was not only skilled warriors, but also very smart. In a similar way, Courage clan members were especially brave, and so on and so forth. Clans aren't really important anymore, and most people are no longer interested in being warriors. They're bakers, and florists, and authors, and lawyers, and doctors, and all that other stuff now. "If clans don't matter, why does Blue care that his parents are members of Knowledge?" I murmur to myself.

I remember the other thing I wanted to research. Pulling out a dictionary, I look up the word 'meta.' I discover that it literally means 'the most.' So, it would be grammatically correct to say something was 'meta cool,' not that it was just 'meta.' I make a mental note to tell that to Blue tomorrow. I have a feeling he'd be interested to know that. He may be a kid who wants to be a hero, but he gives off an air of being an intellectual type at the same time.

I spend the rest of the evening finding River Village, which isn't far away at all. I run into Blue and his parents on my way back. They seem fascinated by me. His mom, a yellow-white Star Warrior with green eyes, lets me know that even though she thinks it's fine that I teach him how to do self-defense and stuff, he's going to be something 'important' when he grows up.

"Being a hero is fine and all, we just want our Little Boy Blue to grow up to do something special," she explains. I feel the tiniest bit offended, but I don't show it.

"But Mommy, being a hero _is_ important, ooyo! Blossom ooyo is a hero, and she's important!" Blue argues, clearly more offended than I am.

"Well, yes, of course," his father says, looking over at me apologetically as if his son's standing up for me would bother me. His dad is red like a cherry, with blue eyes. I find it strange that Blue doesn't get any of his looks from either of his parents.

His parents seem like nice enough people, but what I've read in the books today is confirmed: The Planet of the Star Warriors doesn't really care for Star Warriors of the hero variety any longer.


	4. The Present Time, Part 1

Sakura woke up in her shelf for the first time in what felt like forever. After giving a huge yawn and hopping off her shelf, she let her cape turn into wings and stretched them, just because she could again now.

She found, a little bit to her irritation, that Meta Knight had put all of her books away back in their original places. She knew he hated clutter, and that she had been gone for four years so he hadn't had a reason to leave them out, but still. It was annoying trying to track back down all of her favorites.

After a little while, she had found most of them, but a few were hiding from her. She gave up and decided to find the two little guys and spend the day with them.

She almost ran into Meta Knight at the entrance to the secret passage that led to the library. "Oh, good morning. I was just coming to find you," he told her.

"Yeah? What do you need, Sir Knight?" she asked cheerfully.

"Well, I was thinking that now that you have returned, we could finally begin your studies of the language of the Ancients," he explained.

"Aa, sou desu ka?" she questioned him with a bit of a smirk.

"What?" he exclaimed in surprise. "You can already speak it?"

She laughed. "I taught myself while I was gone. If only I could remember the important stuff I did there, too!"

He shook his head, his eyes green in amusement. "I should have suspected as much. That is just like you."

She laughed again, then asked her masked friend, "Have you seen Kirby and Bandana Dee? I was going to see if they wanted to read or something."

"I am afraid you will not be able to do so, they have both gone to Float Islands for a fishing trip," he told her. "They do that weekly these days."

"Well, I wish they had asked me to go with them," she replied, a little bit hurt.

"You have to remember, they have grown," he reminded her.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Well, then, I guess I'll get my revenge by making some cookies and eating them without them. If I still have my Waddle Dee cooking abilities, that is. I have a feeling I will, but I'm not sure."

"Why would you need to still have Waddle Dee abilities to cook?" he inquired, curious.

Sakura hesitated a second, then told him, "I'll show you, but you can't tell anyone else. It's sort of a Waddle Dee 'trade secret,' if you will."

"All right..." he replied, a bit confused.

She led him to the kitchen, and then into a very large room with empty shelves.

"What is this place?" he asked.

Grinning, she replied, "It's the pantry."

Seeming a bit taken aback, he questioned, "How long has the castle been out of food?!"

She snickered. "Years and years." She shut the door, then turned to him. "If I still have my abilities, then," she opened it again, and sitting there on the shelf was just enough ingredients to make cookies.

"How did you do that?!" he gasped, amazed.

She laughed as she carried them out, set them on a counter, grabbed a mixing bowl, and began to mix them together. Turning partway towards him, she answered, "I don't know. It's just something we as Waddle Dee can do. We think of what we need to make something, and it's there."

"So why do you not imagine the pantry as being full?" he questioned, still confused.

Shrugging, she murmured, now mostly absorbed in her baking, "Waddle Dee don't take more than they need."

He observed her for a moment, then asked, "So, if there is not a food bill, what _does_ the king spend all his money on?"

She looked over at him with an amused smile. "So many questions... it seems we have switched places for once, Sir Knight." After thinking a moment, she answered the posed query, "Comic books, mostly. Well, that, and statues and paintings of himself. Plus, I think Escargoon takes more for his salary than he's supposed to."

"Well then, what does _he_ spend _his_ money on?" Meta Knight asked with a chuckle.

"Stuff for his experiments and gems," she answered with a absent-minded smile, as she put the first tray of cookies in the oven. She began to hum a tune, a tune that sounded familiar to him, but she quit after just a moment. "I hate it when I can't remember how a song goes," she sighed.

Meta Knight sat down in a chair and continued to watch her as she worked. "I really wish this kitchen had a window in it. I like sunlight," she told him suddenly.

He smiled to himself as she quickly returned to being absorbed in her current project without waiting for him to answer her. She reminded him so much of an old friend of his, it was nearly uncanny. She had changed a lot, but she was still definitely the old Sakura, as was proved when she got distracted by a spider in the corner.

"Uch. I hate these things," she muttered as she trapped it inside a jar, then called over another Waddle Dee. "Can you please take this outside and let it go? I'll give you a cookie when you get back," she requested of it, then paused for a moment and observed the arachnid closer. "Strange..." she murmured, then let the Waddle Dee take it.

"What is strange?" Meta Knight asked, innocently. She noticed that several of the cookies off of the most recent tray were missing, and that he had his cloak wrapped around himself.

"Nothing, except the way that these cookies seem to have vanished," she laughed, then turned away and frowned to herself.

You know how sometimes, you think there's a spider, but it's actually just a random fuzzy? Well, after she had picked it up, that's what she had thought it was for a second, but then it had started climbing up the side of the jar, so it was obviously alive. But it had looked like it was made of... _yarn_?

She shrugged it off, then turned back and noticed Meta Knight had disappeared. Probably off to somewhere where he could remove his mask and safely enjoy his plundered pastries, she'd wager. "I have a feeling he'll be back for more, soon," she giggled, then jumped as a timer went off and made her return to her baking.

_In Float Islands:_

"Not many fish today, poyo," Kirby commented to Bandana Dee. Kirby was standing on a rock a ways out from shore, fishing rod in the water.

Bandana Dee, however, would rather swim than fish. He was most of the reason they were having trouble getting anything, as he was splashing around in the warm ocean waters. Kirby didn't really mind, just so long as he got something to eat during the trip, which he always did.

"Dwee!" Bandana Dee told him, happily doing an underwater backflip. When he lost his bandana in the process, he disappeared under the water to find it.

Kirby grew uncomfortable when his friend seemed to take forever to resurface, then jumped about ten feet in the air when something touched the back of his foot. Falling into the water, he turned around and glared at his buddy, whose shoulders were shaking in silent hoots.

Well, now the fishing part of the trip was over, as the rest of the afternoon was spent with Kirby chasing Bandana Dee through the waters and trying to use his Water Gun attack on him.

When the sun began to lower in the sky, they knew it was time to go home, but they were now in a part of Float Islands that they didn't recognize. Bandana Dee gave Kirby a look that clearly said, "It's your fault."

Kirby stuck his tongue out at him. "We'll find our way back, poyo."

But they quickly grew less confident in that fact, as they got lost in a palm tree forest soon after. Bandana Dee glared at Kirby. "Dee," he growled in irritation.

"Well, if you're so smart, poyo, you find the right way to go," Kirby challenged him.

His nose stuck in the air, Bandana Dee did just that, or he tried to, anyway.

It was getting dark. "We're lost, poyo," Kirby sighed.

"Would you like directions?" a passing Scarfy asked politely.

"No!" Kirby shouted in annoyance as Bandana Dee firmly shook his head in agreement.

"Boys," the Scarfy huffed and began to chase them, Monster Scarfy now.

Finally managing to lose their would-be attacker when she blew up, Kirby realized they were back on the beach where they had started their wanderings not long ago. "What do we do now, poyo?" he wondered aloud.

Bandana Dee shrugged, then mimed eating. "Good plan," Kirby agreed eagerly.

They began to search the surrounding area, when Kirby saw a slightly strange-looking Maxim Tomato in a nearby bush. "That'll work, poyo," he decided and tried to inhale it.

"Really? Again? I thought we covered this the first time!" a nasally voice grumped. Out of the bush came one of Kirby's old enemies, Yin-Yarn.

Bandana Dee didn't recognize the guy at all, tipping his head to the side and studying him in Waddle Dee curiosity.

Just like the first time, Kirby ignored the yarn sorcerer, continuing to inhale the tomato. Although, this time, his eyes were narrowed. He managed to get it away from the sorcerer, then split it half and shared it with his buddy.

Yin-Yarn gawked as the two sat down and enjoyed their snack, acting like he wasn't even there. "You eat my Metamato, and then you refuse to acknowledge my magnanimous presence?" he thundered, offended. "Now that puts me on the wrong side of the fabric."

Kirby and Bandana glanced at him for a moment, then resumed their snack. "Yin-yarn lost, poyo. I'm stronger. I'm not scared of you anymore, poyo," Kirby shrugged.

"Nyaaaargh!" Yin-Yarn grumped. "Into the magic sock with you then, so at least you're out of my way!"

Now Kirby and Bandana Dee, finished with the tomato, decided it was time to get a move on. They jumped up and hurried off, but within seconds, they were trapped in the vortex coming out of the sock.

"We're gonna be in trouble when we don't get back in time, poyo," Kirby sighed, still not too worried.

"Dee..." Bandana Dee groaned in agreement.

When they landed in Patch Land, Kirby immediately starting getting himself used to having yarn powers again. Bandana Dee gave him a glare that said, "What are you doing?"

Kirby laughed and began to show his friend how to do all the different transformations: Car, Weight, Parachute, Sub, etc., etc. In typical Kirby fashion, he didn't really mind this new turn of events. Just so long as there were snacks, of course!

Sakura frowned as she finished handing out cookies to all the Waddle Dee, the sun completely set now. "Kirby and Bandana Dee never showed back up," she mused, a little bit anxiously, to herself.

She tried to find Meta Knight and ask him what was up, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. Neither were Sword or Blade, which was really weird. They were always showing up in random places and getting in the way. They annoyed her a bit, but not too terribly bad, as they were kind of doofuses, but in a good-natured way. Plus, Meta Knight counted them as his friends, so they must have had several redeeming qualities. She just didn't really know what those were.

Sighing, she decided to take a late-evening flight. Being able to fly again was wonderful, she hadn't realized just how much she missed it until she had gotten this ability back. She finally landed back in the courtyard, unaware that she was being watched...

She frowned as a butterfly fluttered past on its way to the garden for the night. Standing perfectly still and holding out her hand, she waited patiently until it landed there. "You look like you're made of yarn too, little one. Either I've gone crazy, or strange events are beginning to happen in Dreamland." The butterfly flapped off after a second, leaving her standing alone in the midsummer moonlight.


	5. The Other Time, Part 2

_Blossom's POV:_

It's been a couple of months since I arrived here. Blue's already learned a lot, he's a really sharp kid. He seems to enjoy the quieter arts I've been teaching him almost as much learning the sword. He loves to read, and me and him have been learning the language of the Ancients together. It's a really pretty language, and he's doing well with it, although I seem to be picking it up a lot quicker than he is.

Today we've already finished our book studies for the day, and now we're practicing with our swords. He's gotten to the point where we've actually started having very basic duels. Of course, I always win, but he's getting better and better.

It's really hot out today, one of those days in late summer where summer's trying to fool everyone into thinking it's not going anywhere. There's a few clouds in the sky, but they're not really anything to worry about.

I make Blue stop for another water break, which annoys him. "I'm fine, I don't need more water right now, Blossom ooyo," he huffs in irritation.

"I don't care, Blue," I reply. The heat is making us both a little bit cranky. "The last thing I need is for you to go home dehydrated."

He groans, but drinks some water anyway. Suddenly, he says, "Blue isn't a very cool name. Call me Azure, ooyo!"

I stare at him for a second, then laugh. "Um, no. How about Aoi?"

Sticking his tongue out at me, he grumps, "I may not know a lot of the language of the Ancients, but I know enough to know that's a girl's name, Blossom ooyo, even if it does also mean blue."

I laugh. "I like the name Blue. You're just going to have to deal with it. Unless, of course, you would rather I use your mom's nickname for you..."

"Ugh, no, ooyo!" he makes an awful face. "It's bad enough when _she_ calls me Little Boy Blue. That name is not meta cool at all."

Suddenly there's a crash of thunder and it starts to rain. "We'd better get inside until it calms down," I declare, but as the afternoon goes on, it only gets worse.

Blue starts to get nervous as we sit on a couch and read stories. "I don't like thunderstorms, ooyo."

"It's okay, I don't really like them either," I admit.

"A long time ago, Dad says there were really bad storms all the time, back before Nightmare disappeared, ooyo," he tells me.

"Nightmare?" I ask, turning to him in surprise. "I thought he was gone!" I've read about this Nightmare guy, he's really bad news. He sold monsters and fought the Star Warriors, but the books say that he disappeared a couple hundred years back, thankfully.

Shaking his head, he tells me, "That's what he wants everyone to think, ooyo. Everyone jokes that he went bankrupt or something. But I know he's actually still out there." He pauses for a second, then almost whispers, "The Star Power told me so."

"Blue!" I gasp sternly. "You shouldn't say things like that unless they're true. The Star Power isn't something to joke about."

"I'm not joking, Blossom ooyo," he replies, completely serious, his eyes huge.

Wow. I already had a feeling this kid was going to be someone important, but if the Star Power is already talking to him, he's really, really important. "What did the Star Power tell you, Blue?"

"Well, before you got here, I wanted to grow up to be a book-writer, although I thought heroes were really meta. So one day, I was out riding my Warp Star, ooyo. When all of a sudden, I felt a sort of whisper in my heart," he grins at me suddenly. "It was a good sort of whisper, not like the kind you have when you have to go to the doctor, Blossom ooyo."

I laugh quietly at his analogy. "And then what happened?" I prod, genuinely interested.

Still smiling, he tells me, "Well, I froze, ooyo. And then, this voice started talking to me. He said that Nightmare is really still out there, and that he's just hiding until everyone becomes com-play-chent-"

"Complacent?" I correct, growing a little bit nervous. If that's true, it's bad, because these Star Warriors have definitely grown complacent. If Nightmare ever comes back, they'll be frightfully underprepared.

"Yeah, ooyo, com-play-chent. That's what I said. Anyway, the Star Power said that although I'm not gonna be the hero that finally gets rid of him, I _am_ going to help. And I was thinking, 'But I don't know how to be a hero! I'm just a kid!' But he said that you were coming soon to train me, and that I would find you right where I was then, Blossom ooyo." He suddenly pouts, "So I came back every day, forever and ever, waiting for you to show up."

"How many days was it?" I ask with a quiet smile.

"Like ten or something. It was forever, ooyo! But then you finally got here, and now you're teaching me to be a hero. And someday when I'm all growed up and Nightmare comes back, I'll be ready!" he nods firmly, the look on his face extremely brave and determined. Just then, thunder crashes, and the brave expression on his face instantly morphs into fear. He whimpers a little and snuggles closer to me.

I still feel a little bit awed. I've never read or heard about a kid hearing the Star Power that young. He had a Warp Star with him at the time, so it's possible, but miraculous at the same time.

I sing to him for awhile, and he joins me whenever he recognizes the song. He knows the few I've written, and he also knows one or two local songs that he's taught me. One is about the river that River Village is named after, and is a very pretty lullaby. That's his favorite, because at one point it says "Blue is the river," and he thinks the idea of him as a river is hilarious. He understands what it actually means, but that doesn't mean he can't laugh at it.

At one point, we start discussing Copy Abilities. I tell him that I'm not really that good with them, and he surprises me when he tells me he isn't either. "My favorite Ability is Wing, though," he informs me. "Flying is somehow so much more fun than floating, Blossom ooyo."

"Wing is my favorite too, for exactly the same reason!" I reply happily.

Hours pass, and it grows late. "I guess you're going to have to spend the night here," I sigh. I grab the curtain that I use as a blanket and tuck him in on the couch, then take the candle we've been using for light and go to study in a different part of the library.

It's hardly been ten minutes when there's a particularly bright flash of lightning. Within seconds, I feel Blue climb on top of my head, draping his little paw-like hands over the top of my face. At first, I think he's reading over my shoulder, but soon, I hear quiet snoring. "Oh, Blue," I sigh with a smile, then blow out the candle and also fall asleep.

_Blue's POV:_

It's been a few years since Blossom got here. I've learned a whole lot in that time, I'm better at sword-fighting than the older kids at school now. That's not much to say, though, there's only a few kids who know anything about swordplay, even with a Copy Ability. Blossom's still a whole lot better than me, though, but that's not a surprise.

School's over for the day, and I'm going to the library like I always do to practice with her. She's super meta cool and also really graceful. Sometimes I want to kick whoever named her Blossom. She probably earned her name in some super meta way, but she ended up with the name Blossom. I would've named her something pretty and meta, like Hana, which means flower. Or even better, Sakura, which means cherry blossom. I really like that name.

I don't usually use my Warp Star to get around anymore, I just walk. Mostly because I enjoy taking my time and observing everything around me. That's something that heroes are supposed to do.

Today, though, things aren't peaceful like they normally are. I hear kids shouting over by the river. What are they doing? It's the rapids season, it's not safe to play close to the river this time of year. Sometimes I wish they would let me play with them, but they don't because I'm a bit of an egghead, so nobody likes me. Plus, I'm better at hero stuff than any of them, and they don't like that either, even if they do say heroes are just stupid. This is one of those times, though, when I'm glad I stay away from them.

Suddenly, there's a loud splash, and I hear a girl shout, "Oh, no! Forest fell in!"

I frown and hurry over. I know who Forest is; he's one of the big kids, and he has a tendency to be a bit of a daredevil, although he's generally a fairly nice guy. He only recently earned his name when he prevented a forest fire with his twin brother, who; unsurprisingly, earned the name Fire. He doesn't have his Warp Star anymore, but he borrows the other kids' and uses them for dumb stunts.

"What happened?" I ask a mint-green girl with turquoise eyes. She doesn't have a real name yet, everyone just calls her Pepper, like peppermint.

"Oh. It's just you, Blue. I was hoping it was someone who could help," she huffs meanly. "Forest was using one of the other kids' Warp Star to see how close to the rapids he could get, but he fell in!"

I pause for a second, then decide I have to help. Even though Pepper says he was using one, I don't see any Warp Stars around, and it would take too long for mine to get here if I called for it. Suddenly, I feel a whisper in my heart, and I know what I must do. The Star Power will help me.

I puff up and float over the river. Forest is conscious, at least, and he's managing to hold onto a rock, but his grip will soon fail him. I look around for something to inhale, but there's nothing useful except for some leaves, and I am terrible with Leaf.

Forest slips off the rock with a scared shout and goes under. Without thinking about it, I dive under too and grab him, bringing him out of the water and onto the land. I shouldn't have been able to float and carry him at the same time, he's much bigger than me, but I did it. I continue to float while the other kids cheer, but suddenly I feel something like a piece of cloth wrap around me. I feel a sort of tugging in my gut, and reality disappears. I'm floating in some sort of oblivion, and I'm scared, and tired, too. I fall asleep.

After what feels like hours, I wake up, still in this same dark place, but at least not as tired as I was before. I wish I was back at the river, and suddenly, the tugging feeling returns. Reality returns all at once, and the kids are still cheering, like I never left. I stand up from where I've landed, nearly tripping over the cloak that has appeared on me, the cloth I felt earlier, and I'm rushed by a pack of kids.

"Did you see what Blue did?" one shouts.

"Oh my gosh, Blue! That was so meta!"

"Have you ever seen anything so meta in your life?!"

Pepper wanders over, smirking. "He just earned his name. We get to name him, guys!"

_Oh, no._ They're going to name me something terrible, and I'm going to have to put up with it my whole life. I pull my new cloak, (which is _way_ too big for me,) around my face, hiding from the inevitable. It's dark blue in color, a darker blue than me even. It's almost the exact same color as a clear night's sky.

"Egghead! Nerd!" kids start suggesting with nasty snickers, but Forest, thankfully unhurt, comes over and pats me on the back.

"What he did just now was really awesome and meta. If it weren't for him, I'd probably be dead, seeing as how you yahoos did a fat lot of nothing to help me." He turns to me and grins. "He saved _me_, _I_ get to name him."

I hide deeper in my cloak, hoping he's mature enough to name me something at least half-decent.

Forest continues this pause, keeping all the kids, including me, in suspense. Finally, he laughs in a nice way and says, "His name is... Meta."

_To Be Continued._


	6. The Present Time, Part 2

Sakura had fallen asleep in the Star Warrior's Garden, under the cherry tree she had received her name, sword, and cape at. Now, she was awakened by something fuzzy nudging against her. "Mm?" she murmured, blinking her eyes open slowly. When she saw what had awakened her, she gasped and jumped up, drawing her sword.

She was surrounded by around ten Waddle Dee, all of which were made of yarn. One or two of them had spears, but most were unarmed. "No, don't hurt us!" one pleaded sweetly, looking at her with big, innocent eyes. "We had hoped you would help us."

"Help you?" she asked slowly, lowering her sword. "How can you talk? And how do you want me to help you? And what _are_ you?"

The Waddle Dee that had spoken first laughed in an adorable way, while another answered her, "We're special Yarn Dees, that's why we can talk. We come from a far-away land!" They all grew serious, and this one continued, "We need you to save us. There are three meanies out there who are getting rid of us!"

"Three meanies?" she asked in confusion. "What are they like?"

"Three guys with swords! They're chopping us to pieces, and a lot of us don't even have a way to defend ourselves!" another Yarn Dee told her, looking at her with sad puppy-dog eyes.

"That sounds like Sword, Blade, and Meta Knight, but why would they be hurting you guys?" she wondered aloud. "You're just yarn, you couldn't hurt anybody!"

"Exactly," one of them said mournfully. "You have to stop them!"

"But I don't even know where they are..." she told it, her anger level rising. "Picking on you guys, why on earth would they do that? That doesn't sound like Meta Knight at all!"

"Please help us! We've heard that you were a Waddle Dee once, we're like family. You have to help!" another begged. "The last we heard, they were in the Green Greens area."

"All right, I'm on my way," she told them, letting her cape turn into wings and taking off.

As soon as she was out of sight, the pack of Yarn Dees started snickering, and a couple of them fist-bumped. "That gets rid of the last of the heroes. The castle's ours for the taking, now!" one giggled evilly.

"Won't Master Yin-Yarn be happy?" one said happily. "Maybe he'll give us a raise!"

"We don't get paid anything," one reminded that one.

"Yeah, so what? He could still give us a raise," the other one argued.

"Stop it, stop it. We still have to deal with the dumb penguin, and our non-yarn look-alikes. All who are not made of yarn are just imposters!" one shouted, raising his spear in the air. The other Yarn Dees cheered in agreement.

Up above Dreamland, Sakura was flying as fast as she could toward Green Greens. She would've just warped, but her cape couldn't warp. (Or so she thought.) All the way there, she saw more and more creatures made of yarn. "What's going on?" she pondered aloud.

She found the three she was looking for long before she reached Green Greens. Sure enough, there they were down on the ground, slicing through Yarn Dees and all sorts of yarn critters, leaving little piles of string all over the place.

"What do you bozos think you're doing?!" she roared, landing immediately in front of them.

"Oh, Sakura," Meta Knight acknowledged her in surprise. "Excuse me," he suddenly added, hopping over her and slicing through a Yarn Doo that cowered right before Galaxia struck it.

"Why are you doing this?" she shouted angrily, stepping in front of him again.

"Would you please get out of the way?" he sighed in irritation.

"No, I won't," she huffed, suddenly drawing her sword and blocking his before he could hit a Yarn Dee that carried a bow-and-arrow. "Why are you killing these innocent creatures?"

"Innocent?" he snorted. "These have all been sent by the sorcerer Yin-Yarn, a foe not to be underestimated. Sword, Blade, and I heard reports of yarn monsters appearing all over Dreamland, so we came to investigate. And, like with any other quest, we are clearing out the local monster infestations in the process."

"They're made of string, most have no way of defending themselves. Do you, sweetheart?" she murmured gently, turning to a Yarn Dee. It nodded sorrowfully at her, alligator tears in its eyes.

"Oh, please," Sword snorted as he leapt past, chasing after a creature she didn't recognize that resembled a lizard. "They may look cute, but they're monsters, just like any other critter 'round these places. Isn't that right, Mety Knight?"

"Monster ruggen tuggen rando!" Blade growled as he chopped through another creature she had never seen before that looked like a guy with a cannon for a head.

She turned to Meta Knight again, still guarding the Yarn Dee, which crossed its eyes at him when she wasn't looking. "Why, you," he hissed, leaping at it, but Sakura blocked him again. The Yarn Dee cowered behind her and whimpered.

"I won't let him hurt you," she reassured it, then humphed at Meta Knight, "If you were just going on a quest, why didn't you ask me to come? Hmm?"

"I would have, but I could not find you. There was no time," he explained, glaring at the Yarn Dee, which was still making taunting faces at him. The most irritating part was, no matter when Sakura turned to look at it, it was able to put on an adorable face before she saw otherwise.

"So you told a Waddle Dee to come find me," she said sarcastically, turning back to him again.

"I should have, my apologies. Now, would you please allow me to deal with this monster?" he requested, a bit tersely.

"No. And now that I've found you, I'll also tell you, Bandana Dee and Kirby never came back to the castle," she informed him.

"Oh, dear," he sighed, mask-palming. "That is... not good."

"Why not? Are you worried one of these little guys will hurt them?" she muttered, eyes narrowed.

"I am sure they could handle themselves with small monsters, it is Yin-Yarn himself I am worried about. He may have already found them and trapped them in Patch Land. We must hurry and try to find the both of them," he told her, trying yet again to leap around her and finish off the Yarn Dee.

"Patch Land? Where's Patch Land?" she asked, angrily stopping him with her sword. "If you want to hurt this angel, you're going to have to go through me." The Yarn Dee wrinkled its face up and mimed the way she said it, sneering at Meta Knight the whole time.

"Please, Sakura. Do not do this," he groaned, still giving the little monster the evil eye. "It is many things, but one thing it definitely is _not_ is an angel."

She turned to it again, and it gave her an innocent look. "Thank you for helping me," it cooed happily, then resumed taunting Meta Knight as soon as she turned away again.

"I have had enough of this nonsense," he growled, finally managing to get around her and deal with the two-faced terror.

"Meta Knight! It was unarmed! What about your code of honor?" she gasped, horrified.

"By the Star Warrior code, unarmed minor monsters may be dealt with if it leads to peace later on, which this did," he told her. "Now, let us find Kirby and Bandana Dee."

"Ready when you are, Mety Knight, Miss Sakura," Sword announced, finally having caught and destroyed the yarn lizard.

Blade wandered over and agreed, "Humph dardar upken."

"Good for you bozos, I'm going off to find the kids on my own," she growled angrily, her eyes flashing. "Have fun with your pointless destruction of innocent creatures."

"Monsters," Meta Knight corrected her in frustration.

"You three are the only monsters I see here," she huffed, jumping up and flying off, practically steaming.

"Is she always like this?" Sword asked in amused annoyance as she flew off.

"Feisty ugg nugg tuffen?" Blade added.

"No, she has never had a problem with killing monsters before. She does not appreciate it when one of the others kills a Waddle Dee, but I agree in preserving those. These, however;" he continued, pausing a moment to spin around and get rid of a Yarn Doo that had been sneaking up on him, "I have no problem with dealing with."

"I'll tell you why she won't let you hurt us," a Yarn Dee told him in an annoying baby voice. Snickering, it continued normally, "We had a few Yarn Dees go and beg her for her help in saving our lives. She's like family, after all. She used to be a Waddle Dee, or so we've heard."

"Oh, just lovely. That is the worst tactic they could have used. She loves taking care of the young and helpless, tugging at her heart-strings is the most effective way they could have turned her against us," Meta Knight groaned, mask-palming again while simultaneously ending this Yarn Dee's existence.

"So, you mean, we have to get rid of her, too?" Sword asked.

"No, of course not," Meta Knight huffed. "I will just have to explain things to her."

"Muggy dug harru doff, oi." Blade sighed.

"Of course she will listen to me, do not be ridiculous," Meta Knight disagreed.

Sakura, meanwhile, was stomping through Whispy Woods nearby and swinging her sword through the air to let off some steam. "Those... bozos. Shotzo brains. Grr, jerks!" she shouted, driving a fatal blow into the ground and getting her sword stuck. "Oh, lovely," she hissed, trying to pull it out and failing. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble.

"Grizzo stampede!" a pip-squeaky voice yelled from the treetops. "Get out of there, lady!"

"I can't leave my sword!" she shouted back, thinking the voice sounded familiar.

"Oh, for Pete's sake," the voice sighed.

Just as the first Grizzos came through the trees, she managed to get her sword out, and a vine came down from a treetop. _Oh, good. Meta Knight showed up just in time to save me and apologize,_ she thought as she nimbly clambered up the lifeline.

"Thanks, Meta-" she started, then gasped when she saw who her real rescuer was. "You?!"

"I'm just going to pretend you were saying 'thanks, Mago-' not 'thanks, Meta.'" Magolor humphed, his arms crossed. "You're welcome, by the way."

"But, but," she stuttered in confusion.

"But what? Surprised your Star Warrior friend didn't show up to save you, Princess?" he huffed. "By the way, you look different."

"I'm a Star Warrior now, instead of a Waddle Dee," she huffed. "That's the difference. And my name's not 'Princess.' It's Sakura."

"You say potato, I say tuber. Same difference," Magolor disagreed. "I'm still waiting for a properly directed thank-you."

"Fine. Thank you, Magolor." she said in faux-gratefulness, giving a condescending curtsey.

"Aren't hero ladies supposed to be polite?" he teased, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Not when they're talking to traitors," she hissed, eyes narrowed.

"Seriously? This again?" Magolor grumped. "I never even betrayed you, just your numbskull friends." He started to float gracefully to another tree, how, she didn't know.

"Where do you think you're going?" she questioned, flapping after him.

"I could ask you the same thing, you don't usually find heroes wandering around crankily through the Woods, chopping through invisible foes," he pointed out.

"I'm looking for Kirby and Bandana Dee. Have you seen them?" she inquired.

"Nope, but I have seen a lot of weird string-monsters. I've been having to hide from them all day."

"Hmph," she sighed. "Well, would you mind coming with me, keeping me company?"

"Why do I have the feeling you're just asking me to do that so I end up on Meta-not's bad side?" he murmured to himself, then heaved a huge sigh. "Fine, I'll join you for awhile."

Suddenly, a giant yarn man appeared in one of the nearby trees. "Oh, two sweethearts taking a walk in the woods? How absolutely quaint," he commented with a sneer.

Magolor and Sakura looked at each other and both made gagging noises.

"Oh, that's how it is, then. I see. Well, at least you could acknowledge my magnificence!" he growled.

"Who are you, exactly?" Sakura inquired, sub-consciously tipping her head to one side in a Waddle Dee-like way.

"I am the great and powerful Yin-Yarn, knitter-together of all of the beautiful yarn monstrosities you have encountered!" he told them, then cackled maniacally.

Magolor shrugged. "Never heard of you." Turning to Sakura, he added, "This guy 'seams' a little unstable."

"He's a few stitches short of a pot-holder," she agreed with a giggle.

"Oh, shut up. Sewing puns are _'sew'_ my thing!" Yin-Yarn shouted.

The two watched for a moment, then Sakura shook her head. "I think 'Lor's was better."

"Nyaaaaaaaaargh! If you refuse to bow before me, then into the magic sock with you!" he shouted, sending a vortex out at them.

"Nope! Not getting involved!" Magolor squealed just then, trying to jump out of the way, but ending up right in the sock's path. "Lady! Help!"

"Oh, for crying out loud," she moaned, leaping after him.

When they landed in Patch Land, she stared at herself. "What in Dreamland? I'm made of yarn!"

"Yeah, well, so am I. You wear it better, though," Magolor grumped. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Is this maybe the Patch Land Meta Knight was talking about?" she mused, more to herself than to him.

"Makes sense, the whole place is made of string and stuff," he agreed.

"Monsters! Halt!" a small voice roared, and a small blue-green yarn boy jumped out at them. He turned into a car and raced straight towards the two of them, determination in his eyes.


	7. The Other Time, Part 3

_Meta's POV:_

I try to run all the way to Blossom's library since I'm late, but running in this cloak is practically impossible. At one point, though, I jump over a rock, and it turns into bat wings. Bat wings that are, not surprisingly, way too big on me. I probably look like some sort of monster. But who cares? I have _wings!_ I can _fly!_ And it's even better than flying with Wing. Soaring through the air, feeling my new wings flap up and down, it's got to be the best feeling in the galaxy.

I'm usually a fairly serious kid, but as I flap into the library, there's a huge grin on my face. I land and will the wings to return to being a cloak before I go farther in to find my friend and teacher. "Blossom! Guess what guess what guess what guess what?!" I shout excitedly.

"I'm in the fiction section," she calls out. Well, hmph. She doesn't sound even slightly interested in guessing what.

I walk slowly there, not wanting to trip over my cloak again. "Guess what?!" I try again, almost whining, once I've arrived at where she is, doing inventory or something on a step ladder.

She looks at me. "You're going to be a... something, for Halloween?" she tries, looking at my cloak. "I think you picked a few sizes too big, and it's really early to be thinking about Halloween. It's spring, for goodness' sake."

"Nope, wrong answer. And I didn't pick this cloak, I think it picked me. And it's really meta, but there's something even more exciting!" I'm about to explode with happiness.

She smiles, my enthusiasm finally starting to rub off on her. "All right, Blue. What is it?"

I grin at her. "My name's not Blue anymore."

Looking at me in confusion, she frowns. But then, suddenly, it dawns on her. "Oh, Blue! You earned your name? That's great!" she shouts, jumping off the ladder and giving me a hug. "So, little hero. What's your name?" she asks warmly.

"Meta," I answer her proudly. Not only did Forest pick a half-decent name, he gave me one I actually like.

Her smile disappears. "Seriously? I'm going to have to call you... Meta, from now on?"

My grin fades a bit. "What's wrong with that?"

Backtracking, she laughs, "Nothing. It's just... Meta what?"

"What do you mean, Meta what?" I question dubiously, just the slightest bit irritated.

"Meta means 'the most,' remember? So the most what? The most loyal? The most brave?"

I frown, she has a bit of a point. "Thanks for taking a child's joy, stick-in-the-mud."

"Sorry," she blushes. "I'm not trying to be a stick-in-the-mud." She pauses, then asks, sounding a little bit excited, "So, how did you earn your name?"

"I saved Forest from the rapids," I explain briefly. That by itself is enough for her to understand the whole thing.

"Oh, Forest," she sighs and rubs her forehead. "That boy is going to kill himself one of these days. So, let me guess, your parents got you the cloak as a reward?"

Shaking my head, I reply, "No. They don't even know the news, I came straight here. It just appeared on me right after I saved Forest." I grin again, "But it is _so_ cool. I can use it to warp out of reality and I can fly and-"

Her eyes widen. "It can do _what_?" she asks, disbelieving.

"It can warp and fly," I tell her. "See?" I warp from the floor to the top of the step ladder, then I let it turn into wings and fly back down. Turning it quickly back into a cloak, I look up at her expectantly, waiting for her reaction.

She doesn't disappoint. "Wow..." she murmurs, awed. "Bl- I mean, Meta. Do you know what that is?"

"Um... a really awesome cloak?"

"No. Well, I mean, yes, but... That's the Dimensional Cloak. I thought it was a myth," she tells me, amazed. "It's a very powerful tool, not a toy."

"Well, duh. I know that much, Blossom ooyo," I huff, offended, then blush. 'Ooyo' has mostly worked its way out of my vocabulary, I don't like sounding babyish, but it still slips into my speech sometimes.

Blossom laughs. She thinks my saying 'ooyo' is cute, and I hate it when people think I'm cute. I'm going to be a great hero. I. Am. NOT. Cute. Not at all. No.

"I know you know that," she tells me, then sighs and tries to arrange my cloak so it fits better. "I take it you won't let me keep this for you for when you're older?"

"No way. I'm not letting this thing out of my sight, it's the most meta thing I've ever owned," then I frown. "Now I'm going to have to stop saying things are meta, otherwise I'll sound conceited."

She sighs quietly, a smile still on her face. "It's going to take me a while to stop calling you Blue. You're growing up so fast..."

Uh-oh. If she starts crying, I'm going to go crazy. I hate crying. It's dumb and not warrior-like at all. (There. See? I didn't use meta.) "Hey, I'm still only 9 going on 10," I remind her with a half-smile.

"Yeah," she agrees softly, then smiles really big at me. "C'mon, let's go to the bakery. An event like this deserves cookies."

"Yes!" I shout, fist-pumping. I love cookies. They are the best food ever. I could _live_ off of cookies, especially the chocolate kinds. "Can I fly there? _Please_?"

"I guess," she giggles. "But I'll warn you, Bl- I mean, Meta. You look... scary. The wings are way too big for you."

"I'll grow into them. Hopefully, anyway," I tell her as we walk outside. I let the cloak turn into wings and stretch them. The sunlight feels really good on them.

This has got to have been the most meta- um, I mean, awesome- day of my life.

_Blossom's POV:_

I'm walking home alone. I just dropped Blue (Argh! I mean Meta!) off at his house. I decided not to be a bother while he's explaining things to his mom and dad. I feel so happy and proud of him, but I feel sad, too. His parents have said that as soon as he earns his name, they're going to move to a bigger city so he can have a better education. I've tried to convince them that that's not what needs to happen, I've shown them prophecies about their son, even. But no matter what I say, they say that heroes are no longer necessary, and refuse.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't kidnap him, obviously, but I can't just let him go, either. I have to train him so he can grow into a hero, and the prophecies say he will only ever have one teacher, so I know he won't find someone else to teach him if he goes.

Back at the library, I laugh as I find a drawing he made a year or two ago. It's of a blue blob and a red-orange blob fighting a dragon, and then on the back, it's the two blobs at a knighting ceremony. He's always had a bit of an obsession with knights, I can't count how many times I've played the princess he comes to help. (I say help, not rescue, because I'll have you know this princess knows how to use a sword. And is also occasionally a ninja, thank you very much.) At the end, he always gets knighted as "Sir Blue," and I become "Lady Blossom," his loyal page. We haven't played that game for months, now, though. He's starting to get to the age where he's too 'old' for everything.

I sigh and walk outside, then puff up and float up to the roof of the library. There's this little sort of fenced-in piece that's perfect for sitting alone on and thinking, or stargazing, or both.

As I stare up at the stars, I feel so tiny. I close my eyes and try to find the Star Power, hoping for some sort of direction. When suddenly, there's a frightful roar from the village that shakes the earth. "Monster," I gasp. I run into the library and grab an old Warp Star that someone left here years before I got here, jumping on it and flying into town as fast as I can.

And I get there not a moment too soon. It's chaos, there's a giant Ice Dragon blowing ice over all the just-planted crops in town. Someone shouts for someone to go get a weapon, someone else replies they can't find any. I draw my sword, diving towards it with a shout. Within minutes, I've finished it off.

Meta and his parents are among the crowd below. As the dragon fades away, I fly right up to them. "Now do you believe me?" I ask coldly. "If I hadn't been here, what would you have done?'

They don't say anything, just stare, dumbfounded.

"Heroes are always necessary, even in peacetime. And if you try to tell me that this was just a weird coincidence..." I take a deep breath, then continue, "Please. There will be more. Maybe not right away, but this is just the beginning. Meta needs to be trained, he needs to be ready. Please."

His parents hesitate, then slowly, they begin to nod. "I need to talk to you," his mom tells me. "I'll come to the library tomorrow."

"If you could come now, I'd much prefer it," I tell her, my voice still cold.

I turn to fly off, then stop when I hear Meta quietly say, "Blossom the hero, ooyo." I look at him and see the huge smile on his face. He already looked up to me, but now that he's seen me in action, that admiration has at least doubled.

"That's about right, Meta," I reply with a lighter tone and a fond smile, then fly home.

Not much later, his mom arrives. "Let me speak," she tells me before I can get a word out. "You're right, you've always been right. I just didn't want to believe it. Star Warriors who join the army, they don't usually come home. I didn't want that to happen to my Little Boy Blue, even if he is meant to be a hero. We've known what he was going to be since he was very little. We just didn't want to believe it."

I soften instantly. I've never been a mom, but I've always been good with kids, (I think,) so I understand where she's coming from. "The prophecies say he'll live to see the peace of the universe. He's going to make it, all the way through," I remind her.

"I just don't know if I am," she tells me quietly, then brightens. "I assume you'll want to completely take over his education, like you've suggested before?"

I nod once. "If that's at all possible."

"I'll tell the school in the morning," she says. I wait for her to go, but she suddenly says, "Blossom."

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For tonight, for teaching my Little Boy Blue, for all of it. Thank you. You are a true Star Warrior."

I smile. "You're welcome, ma'am. So is your son."

_In a dark fortress, hidden from all that is Light:_

"Um, sir. I think you'll want to hear this," the Salesman started nervously, looking at a computer screen.

"What, fool? What is it?" Nightmare hissed in reply, angered at being disturbed while he was busy building his army. When he truly returned in several years, the universe would be his with hardly any effort.

"That monster we sent to terrorize that village and hopefully get rid of that future hero?" the Salesman murmured in worry.

"What about it? Spit it out, already! You waste my time!"

"Well, it's been beaten, Your Evilness."

"By who? Who dares to defy me?" Nightmare roared in rage.

"That girl Star Warrior that was meant to train him... She's back. She's training him," the Salesman squeaked.

"But we disposed of her, years ago!" Nightmare shrieked, crashing his hand through an unsuspecting monster.

"Yes, and in a way full of delicious irony. But, she's there. And she's training him. What do we do, Master Nightmare?" the Salesman questioned anxiously.

Nightmare paused a moment, then chuckled quietly, then gave a full-blown evil laugh. "Let her train him. When he is grown, we'll make him an offer he can't refuse. He will fight for _us_, and we will be _unstoppable_. The universe will... be... _mine_."


	8. The Present Time, Part 3

Sakura drew her sword and jumped in front of Magolor, blocking him from the little car racing straight towards them. "We're not monsters!" she shouted at the kid. "I'm a Star Warrior, and this is a weasel."

The kid stopped suddenly, turning back into a child and staring at them. "I thought weasels were furry."

"Not this one. Who are you? My name's Sakura," she explained, lowering her sword.

"I am Prince Fluff, prince of all of Patch Land!" he told her proudly.

"Nice to meet you, kid," she replied, turning back to Magolor.

"I am a prince, you should respect me!" Prince Fluff grumped.

"Yeah, Princess. Show the kid some respect!" Magolor agreed with a sneer, then realized what he had just said and gave an apologetic laugh.

Prince Fluff froze suddenly, then respectfully bowed. "My apologies. It is my pleasure to meet you, Princess Sakura."

"Ugh, no! I'm not a princess! He just calls me that to be annoying," Sakura explained in frustration.

"Let me guess. You were tired of being trapped in a castle, so you're going off on an adventure? I will join you and protect you, Princess," Fluff told her gallantly.

"No! And I don't need protecting, I can handle myself," she told him.

"So that's not it... Are you being forced to marry someone you do not love? I bet that's it!" Prince Fluff tried.

Magolor snickered. "This is entertaining, it's almost as good as video games."

Sakura gave him the evil eye. "I hate you."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual," he laughed scornfully in reply.

"Do you want me to duel this churl for you, Princess?" Fluff offered, stomping over to Magolor, who looked at him in disbelief.

"No, I need him alive. For now," Sakura declined. "Now, I order you to stop calling me Princess."

"So you admit to being a princess?" the young boy asked eagerly.

"No!" Sakura groaned while Magolor laughed again. "Could a princess do this?" she pointed out, letting her wings appear and taking flight, doing a pretty awesome sword move through the air.

Prince Fluff stared. "You're an angel princess? That is so _awesome_!"

"Oh, come on," Sakura sighed. "I'm _not_ a princess, I can even beat Meta Knight in a swordfight. Sometimes."

"Did that Meta Knight attack you?" Fluff gasped. "I knew he wasn't really a goodguy!"

Shaking her head, Sakura muttered, "If you keep jumping to conclusions, you're going to break something." She sighed and landed. "You haven't happened to see a pink Star Warrior and a Waddle Dee with a blue bandana, have you?"

"A pink Star Warrior? You mean Kirby? Kirby's back?!" Fluff questioned excitedly.

"Well, I think so. But what do you mean, back? Has he been here before?" Sakura inquired.

"Yeah, awhile back. Me and him put Patch Land back together and defeated Yin-Yarn, saving Dreamland from being made of yarn forever," Prince Fluff explained.

"Why can't I remember this?" she murmured.

"I wasn't on your planet yet, so I have no idea what he's talking about, either," Magolor assured her.

"So, you're not used to being yarn, huh? Well, let me show you the 'ropes.' You guys don't have a Metamato, so you can't use the transformations. But you've already got a sword, so you'll be fine. You can do this, though." Prince Fluff turned away from them and produced a Yarn Whip, using it to wrap up a nearby block. "Then you can throw these at things. They're really useful."

Sakura frowned and attempted using a Yarn Whip herself. She didn't have the best aim, but she quickly started to get the hang of it. "Okay, that's pretty helpful. But what are the transformations you were talking about?"

"That car I turned into earlier? That was a transformation," he grinned. "Pretty cool, huh, Princess Sakura?"

Sakura sighed heavily. "I'm _not_ a princess. But, thank you for your assistance, Prince Fluff."

"No problem, Princess. How about this? I'll call you Sakura if you'll call me Fluff!" he offered.

"But just a few minutes ago, you were offended by her calling you 'kid!'" Magolor pointed out from where he was trying to detangle himself from his failed attempt at using a Yarn Whip.

"That was before I knew she was a princess, Weasel," Prince Fluff sneered.

"Anyway, sure, I'll call you Fluff. If it means you'll quit calling me a princess," Sakura agreed.

"But I still know you're a princess, I'll just quit calling you one."

"Whatever, it works," she huffed.

Just then, she heard a voice shout, "C'mon, Bandana, poyo!" followed by a 'beep, beep!' Kirby and Bandana Dee came driving happily over the hill.

"Kirby!" Fluff shouted in joy. "How are you, my friend?"

"Fluff, poyo!" Kirby yelled cheerfully back. "I'm good. Oh, and Sakura, poyo! And... Magolor?"

"There you are!" Sakura smiled as the two cars stopped in front of them, turning back into their normal selves. "Good to see you're okay."

"You're yarn, too, Sakura poyo!" Kirby realized. "Can you be a car and stuff too?"

"No, because I don't have a Metamato, whatever that is," she muttered. "Now, the question is, how do we get back now that we've found you?"

"Well, typically, I could just send you back with my half of the pair of magic socks. But Yin-Yarn's got both of them. He hasn't taken Patch Land to pieces this time, but he has set monsters loose all over the place. There's one of them now," Prince Fluff pointed to a Yarn Dee.

"Wait, what do you mean? The Yarn Dees aren't monsters," Sakura frowned.

"Sounds they like they got to you first, huh?" Prince Fluff laughed. "They're very mischievous, and they work for Yin-Yarn. I don't think any of them are capable of really causing much trouble, but they're definitely monsters."

Sakura groaned. "So Meta Knight was right. Meta Knight is _always_ right. Just once, I wish _I_ could be right."

All of the others looked at each other in confusion, then at Magolor. "Don't look at me, I don't know what she's talking about," he shrugged.

"But they seemed so sweet and adorable," Sakura was now muttering in irritation.

"Yeah, they are pretty cute. When they're not busy making faces at you behind your back," Fluff chuckled. "Anyway. Now that we're all here, shall we begin?"

"Begin what?" Magolor asked, suspiciously.

"Begin saving Patch Land, and then Dreamland, of course," Fluff said, like it was obvious.

"Might as well," Sakura mumbled, then a bit of a smile grew on her face. "It'll be good to be back in action."

"Yep-poyo!" Kirby agreed.

"Dwee!" Bandana Dee added. And the party started off, ready to take out some monsters and save the world... again.

"Why did I get myself involved?" Magolor moaned mournfully, crossing his arms and following slowly behind the others.

Meta Knight sighed as he and his two helpers searched Float Islands. "Where could they have gotten off to? And if they are in Patch Land, how do we get them back?"

"Des wep vargo, oi," Blade suggested.

"Well, obviously, we would have to go to Patch Land. But how?" Meta Knight questioned.

"Well, how did you get there the first time, Mety Knight?" Sword inquired. "And, by-the-by, they're not in the palm tree forest."

"I assumed as much," he murmured to himself. "And, to answer your question, I got to Patch Land by being ambushed by Yin-Yarn and forced to go. We do not want to use that tactic, as I have no wish to be used as a pawn by a maniac yet again."

"Yeah, badguys have a tendency to do that to you, don't they?" Sword murmured.

"Nuff trappen tug rug," Blade sighed.

"Oh, shut up," Meta Knight glared at the latter.

"He's got a point," Sword admitted.

"Nonetheless, shut up," Meta Knight ordered. "It is not my fault that villians choose the strongest warrior to possess and make their pawn, and that I just happen to be the strongest warrior in Dreamland."

"Although, Sakura's pretty much tied with you now," Sword murmured. "Isn't she?"

"Tuff ruff warrior desma," Blade nodded in agreement.

"She is definitely close, if not actually equal to my level of prowess," Meta Knight admitted. "But where are you going with this?"

"Well, I was thinkin', Mety Knight, what if some badguy decides to take over her for once? It'd be pretty interesting, I think," Sword told him.

"Interesting? How in Dreamland would that be 'interesting'?" Meta Knight snapped.

"Well, I mean, for once you'd be the goodguy fighting the goodguy turned badguy instead of the other way 'round, so you'd be seen as the goodguy and they'd be the goodguy turned badguy," Sword explained.

"That hardly made any sense, Sword. And I do not see why that would be a good thing, I would not enjoy having to fight a friend at all," his leader huffed, drawing his cloak around himself.

"Kirby seems to have no problem fighting you," Sword pointed out.

"Kah-bee rug nogen rafto, oi," Blade put in his two cents' worth.

"Exactly," Meta Knight nodded.

"Nyaaaaaargh! I can't understand any of what that guy says, and then the other two of you don't make any sense either!" Yin-Yarn whined, appearing from behind a palm tree. "It really pushes my buttons. How am I supposed to spy on you when you don't even speak English?"

"How long has he been there?" Sword murmured in surprise.

"A few minutes," Meta Knight told him calmly. "I was waiting to see if you would notice." Turning to Yin-Yarn, he said, "It appears you are outnumbered. Even you cannot take on all three of us at once."

"Maybe not, but taking you down isn't part of the master pattern. All I need is to send you three off to Patch Land. And then, since I have both of the magic socks, and there's no one left to resist me, you'll be trapped there forever! Nya-ha-ha-ha-ha!" A vortex started coming out of the sock that he carried.

Blade and Sword tried to avoid it, but Meta Knight shook his head. "Trust me," he said to them, leaping in. "Follow."

They did so. "What in the name of Mike?" Sword gasped when they landed. "We're all made of string and buttons and stuff! I feel like one of me mum's craft projects!"

"Fuzzy rax verp, oi," Blade muttered in disgust.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, you don't look like a girl," Sword snorted in reply. "There's a difference between string and ribbon."

"Let us find the others, they must be in here somewhere," Meta Knight ordered.

His two sidekicks nodded. As they started to progress, they discovered that there weren't any monsters for them to deal with, except for Yarn Dees. And all of them were unarmed, now.

Meta Knight chuckled. "Well, it appears that Sakura got here first."

"Yeah, I guess so," Sword agreed as he swung through one, just for the sake of having something to do.

"Hum darr worg, oi," Blade muttered.

"I think it noble of her, not lazy," Meta Knight disagreed. "She doesn't want to take life when it is not necessary. And besides, taking the time to disarm them is more strenuous than just getting rid of them." He frowned to himself, then thought as Sword and Blade sliced through several more Yarn Dees, _Maybe she was right earlier. Maybe I am a bit too quick to finish these creatures off. Right now, there is no need to kill these things, and yet Sword and Blade are doing so as if it does not matter. Is that the sort of example I am setting? _He sighedquietly and continued to follow his followers through Patch Land.


	9. The Other Time, Part 4

_Meta's POV:_

I take deep, silent breaths. The fingers of my magic gloves tighten their hold on my sword. _Don't think, just listen and feel. Don't think, just listen and feel,_ I tell myself mentally.

I smile a little as I sense something behind me, then wait until I hear quiet breathing. That's my cue. I spin around suddenly with a "Ha!," then open my eyes as soon as I hear metal clang against metal. I look at Blossom, a satisfied smirk on my face, an irritated frown on hers.

"How do you do that?" she huffs. "Do you really keep your eyes closed?"

"I do not cheat, and you know it," I chuckle in reply.

She sighs. "I'm just having an off day, I guess."

"That is what you have been saying all week," I remind her, just a little bit smugly.

"It's not fair. I can never get you, but you can always sneak up on me. I don't know how you do it! I know you don't warp because I've made you do it with your cloak tied up. Likewise, you don't fly. It's like you just appear out of thin air!" she rants, and I laugh at her. Not derisively, just out of my enjoyment of her aggravation.

"It's a gift," I reply. "It always has been, and hopefully, always will be. You just do not appreciate that the student is beginning to surpass the sensei."

I have grown up in the over a decade she has spent here, but she doesn't seem like she's aged even a day. That's normal, Star Warriors mostly seem to quit aging once they are fully grown, until they get to be very old. She and I seem to be about the same age now. When we travel together as part of my training, people now assume we are brother and sister. In the past, they thought us to be mother and son, which drove Blossom crazy.

"Oh, I'm still the sensei, Meta," she mutters, her eyes narrowed.

"Is that so? Well, prove it then," I challenge.

"All right then," she agrees, a bit of a smile appearing on her face. Dueling is her favorite exercise.

I use my cloak to warp not far from her, then draw my sword in a spectacular fashion, letting my cloak flare out behind me. I finally hit my growth spurt several years ago, so it fits perfectly now. My voice has deepened as well, I no longer sound like a child.

"Drama queen," she murmurs with a roll of her eyes.

"Blossom, my friend. I am not a drama queen, I just simply have more panache than you do," I tell her. "Now, _en garde_."

She draws her sword, and we slowly begin to circle each other. I allow her to attack first. She swings at me suddenly, and I block, then parry. She blocks it, and nearly knocks my sword away.

"You've come a long way, Meta," she tells me softly. "But not far enough." The duel continues, and at one point, it seems she's won. She knocks my sword out of my hand, but I duck and roll around her, picking it back up within seconds.

Soon after, I think I've won, when I send her sword flying up into the air. "As you were saying?" I chuckle, about to point my sword at her, but she suddenly jumps up, uses my head as a springboard, and grabs her sword before it lands.

"Ta-da," she smirks. Moments later, she's knocked my sword out of my hand again, and this time, I really think she's won. Until I remember a handy little trick: I warp away, grab my sword, and warp back silently, re-entering reality right behind her.

"Where did he go?" she murmurs.

I tap her on the head with the flat part of my sword. "I win," I whisper.

She spins around and glares at me, then laughs. "I'd say you cheated, but a warrior is allowed to use whatever tools he has at his disposal, as long as his opponent knows of their presence beforehand."

I chuckle, drawing my cloak around myself. "It is a pity you do not have a cloak like mine, it would make our battles even more interesting."

"That's for sure," Blossom replies with an easy laugh. All the tension and irritation is gone, she is back to being her usual light, happy self.

Right then, a monster wanders out of the woods. We're not surprised, we've been seeing the occasional monster for months now. It's just another sign that Nightmare is returning, and very soon.

"Do you want to deal with it, or should I?" I ask her, but then it turns and whistles into the trees. All is quiet for a moment. Then, hundreds of small monsters come pouring out, straight at us.

Neither of us is too worried. "I bet I can deal with more than you can," I tell her.

"I'll take that bet. What's the prize?" she asks with a grin.

"If I win, you have to make a double batch of chocolate-chip cookies."

"Fair enough. But if I win, you have to clean the garden shed, like I've been telling you to for six months."

I wrinkle my face up teasingly at her. "Are you accusing me of procrastinating, madam?"

"Why yes, yes I am," she laughs back.

"Well then, now I really must win. For it has become a matter of honor," I chuckle. I let my wings spread, and leap into the air immediately above her.

"Come on, widdle monsters," she taunts them. "We have other things we need to do today! Like clean garden sheds!"

"You wish," I laugh.

They rush at us, but we are ready. We fight back, with force and vigor. But when the monsters just keep coming and keep coming, I begin to grow concerned, and fatigued.

"Meta!" I suddenly hear Blossom scream. I look down and see that she is surrounded by monsters, her sword lost. Thinking quickly, I land not far from her, but I too am mobbed by the terrible products of a living nightmare's twisted imagination.

I'm still not too distressed, until they also take away my sword. "Blossom!" I shout, straining to reach her as she tries to reach me. "Blossom!" my voice cracks in fear and makes me sound young again.

She manages to inhale a Walky and turns to me. "Nightmare's warped," she tells me as she transforms into the Mike version of herself. To the monsters, that probably just sounds like an annoyed warrior's statement, but I know its true significance. Not long ago, we set up a system of where we would meet up when Nightmare truly returned. 'Nightmare' tells me the location of our rendezvous, 'warped' tells me how I should get there.

Her Mike self is your stereotypical bubblegum pop singer, which I find strange, seeing as how that does not fit her personality at all. The reason she uses it is not for the singing attacks, but because she receives a pair of butterfly wings she can fly with. Occasionally, the Ability forces her to sing, and she and I both hate when it does. For she begins singing extremely annoying-but-catchy songs in the language of the Ancients, and neither of us enjoy having a song about a 'kawaii no ichigo no tsuki' ('cute strawberry moon') stuck in our heads. For the next week or more.

In the time it's taken me to think this and deduce which location she told me to go to, she's managed to fly away. I prepare to warp, but can't. I realize with a sinking feeling that a monster has bunched up my cloak in its hands, preventing me from warping or using my wings. And to top it all off, I am unarmed. This is very, _very_ bad.

A monster comes up to me and starts blowing some sort of gas at me. Holding my breath, I stare at it obstinately. This monster is an idiot, Star Warriors can hold their breath for hours on end. It gets uncomfortable after awhile, but not too bad.

The monster narrows its eyes at me, then nods at a Knuckle Joe not far off. It comes over and kicks me, forcing me to gasp and inhale the gas. My vision grows fuzzy, and I feel myself go limp. "Blossom, help," is the last thing I manage to whimper before it all goes black.

I wake up somewhere cold and dark. There is a feeling of hatred and evil about the place, and it makes me shudder. "Where am I?" I whisper. I discover that my cloak is back to normal, and that my sword has been returned to me.

"Welcome to my fortress, little Star Warrior," I hear a sickening voice murmur, sounding like a snake.

"Who are you?" I shout bravely back, but in my heart, I already know who it is. _Nightmare._

"Come, speak to me. No harm will come to you during your time here... If you cooperate, that is." He gives an evil laugh that makes me feel cold, like someone just put out a fire on a dark winter's night.

I draw my sword and slowly walk towards a pinprick of dim light not far ahead. "What do you want with me, Nightmare?" I hiss.

He laughs again, and I shiver. "You have the makings of a great warrior, Meta," he tells me. I don't ask how he knows my name, I have a feeling he already knows everything about me. That definitely gives him an advantage, as I do not know much about him at all. "It is a pity your mind is clouded by the... Light." He whispers the last word, as if it pains him to say it.

I reach the dim area and regain a tiny bit of my sight. "What do you mean, clouded?" I ask suspiciously, looking around for my enemy.

He chuckles softly. "If you allowed the clarity of Darkness in... You could become the greatest warrior in the galaxy. All would know your name, none would be able to withstand you."

Being great has always been sort of a dream of mine, and I feel myself become just the tiniest bit tempted. "I will be great without your Darkness," I shout in reply, clenching my sword tighter.

"The others... they do not deserve the assistance you could offer. Even as it became more and more clear that I was returning, they still refused to truly prepare themselves. They are pathetic. If you fought for me, on the other hand..."

A small but quickly growing part of me agrees with him. No matter how many times Blossom and I have warned them, the others have done little besides making Copy Abilities a required part of school again.

I hear him sigh suddenly. "I cannot take you seriously when you are so... adorable," he hisses. "Put this on." A disk of metal appears before me, and I cautiously pick it up and begin to inspect it. It's a mask. I mentally kick myself for not thinking of using a mask before. I have always despised my inherited cuteness, a mask would hide it. I should have started using one years ago.

I slowly put it on, buckling it onto the shoulder pads I wear to keep my cloak secure. I turn and look at myself in a mirror that suddenly appears. It makes my eyes appear golden-yellow, and when I am surprised by that fact, they suddenly glow a deep green. "Hm," I mutter, and they turn a medium shade of blue at my pleasure. I definitely look a lot more dangerous now, all of my true face has been hidden, except for my eyes.

"Now," he orders, bringing my attention back to him. "I have a gift I wish to give you. It will clear your mind of the Light, and give you even more power than you already have."

My resistance grows less and less. "But Blossom," the little good piece left of me argues aloud.

"If you can convince her to be cleansed as well, she is welcome to fight alongside us," he tempts me.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I know this is wrong, but I want it so badly. To be stronger than any other, to be more powerful than all. To finally deserve the name that means 'the most.' _The most feared, the most deplorable, the most evil,_ a miniscule piece of me whispers, but I shove it away.

"I accept your gift," I say, not allowing any hesitation into my voice. Nightmare laughs darkly, and two huge hands appear on either side of me. They begin to be filled with what looks like a dark, swirling cloud, which slowly snakes its way to me. I scream in pain as it touches me, but after a moment, it feels almost... pleasant.

He quickly finishes his job. "What do you think, little Meta?" he questions, expectation in his voice.

I smile darkly to myself, opening my eyes and seeing that they have turned a deep, dark red. "I think it's time to teach some Star Warriors a lesson about power and preparedness that they won't soon forget, Master Nightmare."

_Blossom's POV:_

I hope he returns soon. I am worried sick about him. I knew the time of his testing that was spoken of in the prophecies was coming, but now that it is here, it is horrible for me. With every passing day, I become less and less convinced of his strength against that of the Darkness.

I stand at the edge of Startropolis, the capitol city of Star World. This is where Meta and I were supposed to meet up. All of the cities' populations are going down as the war begins, even though everyone from the country is moving to them. At first, the masses moved to province capitols, like Starburg and Estrellaville. But now, as more and more people sign up for the army and are moved off planet to the orbiting Star Warrior Academy, everyone left is moving to Startropolis, just so they can still be around other people.

The war is coming. "The War Inevitable," they've begun calling it. I just wish that they had realized it was inevitable years ago, when we still had time to prepare.

"Meta," I whisper sadly into the dark. It's a cloudy night that makes it seem like the stars have all vanished, have all left me. Tears fill my eyes. If the warrior I've watched grow up, that I've guided since he was just a sweet, earnest little boy, has fallen to the side of evil, I don't think I could stand it. "Little Boy Blue." I can't bear to think that I've failed.

A whisper appears in my heart. "Do not fear, little one. It will all work out in the end. Meta just has an important lesson to learn. You will help him though this, too."

I feel comforted by the Star Power's words, but I am still filled with sorrow. "Meta," I breathe again, turning my face to the empty sky. "Come back. Come home."


	10. The Present Time, Part 4

Yin-Yarn laughed evilly as he waltzed into Castle DeDeDe. "It's mine, it's mine! Popstar is mine, and I didn't even have to fight any of the heroes!" He stopped suddenly and sighed. "Yet again, I don't really know what I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure I'll find something to use it for. A giant potholder, maybe?" He continued to stroll through the castle, changing everything into yarn. "Now where is that stupid penguin king? This is like looking for a needle in a sewing basket..." he frowned and thought a second. "That doesn't even make sense. Of course you'd find a needle in a sewing basket, unless it was an extremely poorly stocked sewing basket." He paused suddenly when he began to hear someone shouting.

"What is goin' on here?" DeDeDe was roaring in the throne room. "All these stupid string Waddle Dee are back, and I can't find any of the others anywhere!"

"So I don't count as one of 'the others,' Kingy?" Escargoon asked with an offended huff.

"Well, you know what I mean. Don't you? I think you know what I mean. If you don't, I could pound you with my hammer..." the king replied.

"I'm good, thanks," Escargoon disagreed in slightly polite sarcasm.

"Hello, pathetic peasants. Bow to your new amazing overlord!" Yin-Yarn snickered as he floated into the room.

"Oh, Master Yin-Yarn!" one of the Yarn Dees cheered. "We did a really good job for you. Can we have a raise?"

"Sure, take what you want of this guy's treasury. I have no use for his currency, I only use Beads," Yin-Yarn shrugged at it. All of the Yarn Dees ran off cheering excitedly, and he turned back to DeDeDe and his sluggish advisor.

"So, DeDeDumb. How's tricks? You doing well in the weave of things?" Yin-Yarn laughed, settling into a spot immediately above the throne.

"Do I look like I'm doing well? You are sittin' in my royal chair! Get out!" he shouted in aggravation.

"No. I'm the king now, get used to it. Ooh, what does this button do?" Yin-Yarn suddenly asked, using one of his knitting needles to punch it. Nothing happened. "Hmph, broken, huh?"

"They haven't done nothin' since Kirby and the others got rid of Nightmare Enterprises years back," DeDeDe told him. "Duh."

"Yeah," Escargoon agreed. "What sort of idiot are you?"

"Nightmare Enterprises? Never heard of them. What were they like?" Yin-Yarn questioned, actually sounding interested.

DeDeDe and his shelled henchman briefly explained that it was a monster ordering service. Yin-Yarn laughed at the end of this. "Pity they're not around anymore, they 'seam' right up my border."

DeDeDe and Escargoon shrugged in agreement, then groaned as Yin-Yarn turned them into yarn. "Now go clean something, or something," the stringy sorcerer ordered with a cackle.

Unbeknownst to him or the two royal stooges, punching that button really had done something. Nightmare wouldn't just go down without a revenge plan. Sure, he was gone, but that didn't mean he hadn't left any nasty surprises for Dreamland.

Up in orbit around Popstar, a satellite began to beep softly as it received the signal from the castle. In response, it sent a signal down to a carefully hidden box in a cavern. A screen lit up on the box, showing a fuzzy NME logo, then a timer appeared, set for forty-eight hours. With an annoyingly cheerful 'bing,' it began to count down.

Sakura sighed. "Time for bed, guys. I've let you stay up ridiculously late," she told Prince Fluff, Kirby, and Bandana Dee. At first, the first two had been leaving their Waddle Dee friend out without really meaning to. They had just been so excited to see each other again. Now, though, Bandana was a part of the trio. They had been happily wrapping up monsters all day and becoming good allies as well as friends.

She had been mostly occupied with keeping Magolor from killing himself. He wasn't doing so on purpose, of course, it's just he was extremely inept at everything. He had wrapped himself up in yarn every time he tried to help with anything, and he had a tendency to fall into every pit they encountered. Every single one, without exception.

Now, Magolor was sitting quietly in a nearby tree and humming sadly to himself. Sakura sighed when she realized the boys either hadn't heard her or didn't care and decided to join him. "Hey, 'Lor. What's up?" she asked.

"Oh, so you're going to be nice now?" he huffed, not turning to look at her.

"Sure, why not? We're stuck with each other for now, might as well try to get along, right?" she offered. "Besides, you were right earlier. You've never betrayed me. You've sent monsters after me, but then, so has DeDeDe, and I can act civilized towards him."

"Yeah, DeDeDe is a bit of a jerk, isn't he?" Magolor murmured with a quiet laugh, then sighed.

"You okay? You seem sad," Sakura observed.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just... homesick," he told her. "I really am genuinely sorry for going after the Master Crown now, I just want to go home."

She felt a little sympathetic for him. "I'll make you a deal. If you're good, I'll try to talk Meta Knight into helping you get your ship back." She paused a moment, then added, "I sort of know how you feel. I was gone for a really long time recently, and I just finally got home."

"Really? Where'd you go?" Magolor inquired, turning towards her.

She sighed. "That's the maddening thing. I can't really remember. I know it was in another time and place, and I keep remembering little bits and pieces when I sleep, but nothing much. There was this really sweet little kid who loved books and cookies and wanted to be a hero, and I think I called him 'Blue.' But that's all."

"That must get old. How long were you there?" her blue-cloaked companion wondered aloud.

"I can't really remember that, either. But I think it was over a decade, which is weird, seeing as how I can only remember this kid as being a little kid. If I had been there that many years, he would've grown up," she murmured, staring off into the stars.

"Yeah, I guess so," Magolor agreed. "It explains a lot, though."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Sorry. I just mean, you seem... older. Not like _old_ old, just wiser, like you've been around the block a few times, know your way in the world better now," he explained.

"Oh, I see," she shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Just then, she heard bad singing. "What is that? It sounds like Sword and Blade, but it couldn't be."

"Well, I don't know who Sword and Blade are, but there's Meta-not. Hide me before he decides I'm breathing wrong or something," Magolor rolled his eyes and floated higher up into the cloth tree, where he was more covered by the felt leaves.

Sakura laughed. "All right, Magolor. I'll go talk to them."

"Catch you later, alligator, all that," Magolor told her, snuggling into a forked branch for the night.

"Halt, knaves!" Prince Fluff was shouting at their three new companions as she returned. "You may only enter if Princess Sakura says so!"

"Princess Sakura?" Sword muttered in disbelief.

"Sheesh narfarffen, oi," Blade sighed.

"Fluff, kiddo. For the last time, I'm not a princess," Sakura sighed, waddling over. "Now. Go. To. Sleep!"

"Sorry, Pr- I mean, Sakura. I can't sleep. Me and the other two are telling ghost stories. Like the one about the three kids who got stuck inside a zippered pocket and were never heard from again," Fluff told her spookily, then ran back to join his friends.

"Sorry about that," Sakura sighed, turning back to them.

"Why does he think you to be a princess?" Meta Knight asked, eyes glowing green in amusement.

"Magolor called me 'Princess' to be annoying, and Fluff misunderstood him. At least he doesn't call me Weasel like he does 'Lor," she told him, then added, "And, by the way, Magolor has joined us."

"Oh, just perfect," Meta Knight sighed. "Well, now we have all found each other."

"Yepp, oi," Blade nodded, then went and sat down under a tree, falling asleep. Sword joined him not long after.

Meta Knight turned to find a place to rest himself, but Sakura stopped him. "Meta Knight... I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have been so quick to try to stop you. I just... you know I hate killing things, and that I always have. I can if I have to, but I like preserving life much more than ending it."

He looked at her a moment, his eyes yellow. "I know, my friend," he sighed finally. "That is something I could stand to learn from you."

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, I am not mad at you at all," he assured her. "I just have a bad feeling. I don't think Yin-Yarn is the one causing it. I feel like there is something worse coming."

"I've felt that a little bit today, too," she murmured. "I feel like there's something really bad out there, just counting down to when it's going to come after us all."

"Exactly," he agreed. "I am glad we are... how do you say it? On the same page of the pattern?" he looked at her sideways and smiled as she laughed quietly at his yarn joke.

"Same seam of the project?" she suggested with a grin, and he chuckled softly. "Don't worry, Sir Knight. I'm sure that whatever it is, we'll be able to handle it."

"You are probably right," he acquiesced. "Shall I take first watch, or would you rather do that?"

"I can," Sakura offered, then asked as he turned to go, "I've been wondering something lately. Why did you pick the name 'Sakura' for me?"

He paused a moment, staring up the softly glowing button-stars that were pinned to the cloth sky. He finally said, "As I have told you before, it means cherry blossom. I had a close friend named Blossom once, and you remind me a lot of her. I always thought her name should actually be something along the lines of 'Sakura,' Blossom just didn't suit her all that well. Plus, you received your tools at the ever-blossoming cherry tree, and both your sword and your cape were shades of pink. It just all worked together."

"So I'm sort of named after an old friend of yours?" she asked with a smile.

"You could say that," he nodded once, then chuckled. "I think she would be very envious of your cape. She always wanted a cloak like mine, plus she told me she wished she could fly like I could."

"What happened to her?" Sakura asked out of curiosity.

"I assume she passed on in the war. I never saw her again after I joined the army," he murmured sadly. "She was a very, very good friend of mine. I looked up to her more than anyone else. She helped me through one of my hardest trials, and she was always there for me."

Sakura frowned sadly. "I'm sorry. I wish I knew where she was, really. I bet you would love to see her again."

"I would, but I do not think that will ever happen," he sighed, his eyes a deep blue of sadness. "I just hope that, whatever happened to her, she was happy. That is one way you remind me of her, she had an easy smile. Even as a Waddle Dee, you were always happy. She loved children, too. And she was also a very good cook." He turned to her. "She even looked very much like you do, minus the cape, of course."

"That's an awful lot of coincidences," Sakura mused with a smile.

"You were just both 'cut from the same fabric.'" he joked, then walked away to rest.

She sighed and let her cape turn into wings, just because doing so made her feel less nervous. She could definitely sense some sort of coming evil in the air, and now that she knew that Meta Knight felt it too, it made her even more worried. Having her wings out was just something her fight-or-flight instinct made her do, as if the split second it took her cape to transform would really endanger her in a bad situation.

"I'm sure we'll be okay," she muttered, then spun around. She could've sworn she felt someone watching her, but there was no one there. "You're getting paranoid," she muttered, rolling her eyes. Walking back to where the kids where, she laughed when she saw they had finally dozed off, all three in a row, Kirby in the center. She sat down by herself across from them, and hummed an old lullaby about a river that was often stuck in her head these days. She couldn't remember any of the lyrics, but it was still a pretty song.

Meta Knight heard her in his sleep, a tiny smile appearing on his face. Deep in his dream, his younger self laughed hysterically. "Blue is the river, Blossom ooyo! That's so silly."

Blossom gave little him a hug. "That's about right, Blue. That's about right."


	11. The Other Time, Part 5

_Blossom's POV:_

I sigh softly as I sift through the library's rubble. A monster came through a few days ago and completely destroyed River Village. Thankfully, no one lived here anymore, but still. All of my life from the past more than a decade is lying in ashes.

I try to find something, anything, to prove that a place full of books used to be here. I've almost given up, when I find a single piece of paper that hasn't fallen apart. I pick it up eagerly, if it's been allowed to survive, it must be important. It's that drawing, from all those years ago. Age has yellowed the paper and faded the crayon, but it's still the same drawing that an excited little boy shoved in my face a long time ago. "Look, Blossom ooyo! We're fighting a dragon! We get to become knights now!"

I smile faintly, but it quickly fades. A breeze tears the drawing from my hand, and it flies off into the desolation that was once a thriving forest.

The war isn't going well. Every time we prepare an attack, Nightmare already knows we're coming, and we are never prepared for Nightmare's attacks on us. People say it's as if someone comes and listens to the planning meetings, then leaves, without coming in with the others or going out. I know exactly who it is that's doing it, and I know exactly how he's doing it, too.

I keep trying to find him, so I can try to tell him what he's doing is wrong. I don't know how Nightmare got to him. He's not tempted by fame or money, the only thing I can think of that he would possibly fall for is power. He's always wanted to be strong and great, and maybe that's become his downfall.

I hope that wherever he is, he's safe. I know he's an enemy now, but I still care for him. I wish on the first star I see every night that he'll come back soon. But he hasn't yet, and more and more time passes.

_Weeks later:_

I'm walking home from the store to my small apartment I've been staying in here in Startropolis. It's dark, and cold, so I have a simple brown cloak wrapped around myself. It covers everything, even my face. The only thing that's visible is my eyes, and you can only see them when they're hit by a patch of faint moonlight.

Things are getting worse and worse. There's all sorts of ration limits now on power and food, there aren't enough grownups to take care of the children. The army is failing terribly. A few knight guys have shown up and are bringing some order to the chaos; Falspar, Arthur, Dragato, and another guy whose name I can't remember. But even with their help, it's not enough.

I know who else they need, I know exactly who else they need.

As I'm thinking this, someone suddenly steps out of the shadows of the alley I'm walking through. I look at them warily, out of the corner of my eye, and try to walk around them, but they hold a sword out in front of me. "Give me that food," a voice orders. A voice that I recognize instantly.

I turn and look at this masked figure full on. "Meta," I whisper sadly. "Is that you?"

He freezes. His eyes, which were red a moment ago, are now white-yellow. "Bl-blossom?"

I set the bag of groceries down and move my cloak so my face is visible. "Why are you doing this? How did he get to you? Why, Meta, why?" my eyes fill with tears.

His eyes quickly return to being red. "I wanted to be on the winning side," he hisses simply.

"That's not how I trained you. It's not victory that matters, it's being on the side of the right!" I tell him. "You've learned chivalry, and courage, and all of the rest of the code of honor. How can you just abandon all of that?"

"Right does not matter, power and greatness matters!" he hisses more forcefully, pointing his sword at me.

"Meta," I plead. "Nightmare's poisoned your mind. You have to resist it!"

Shaking his head forcefully, he disagrees, "No, no! He has cleared it! It is no longer clouded by the Light!"

"Meta, please!"

"No! Silence!" his voice changes suddenly, his accent disappearing and being replaced by an even deeper, more sinister one. I recognize what is happening from books I have read, he's turning into a monster. "The one you call Meta is no more. I will become the greatest warrior in the galaxy! You will not stand in my way!" He dives toward me, and I have no way to get to my sword in time. I close my eyes, ready for the end. But it doesn't come. I cautiously open one eye, then another.

Meta is standing just feet away from me, staring at his sword in horror. "I almost... killed you," he whispers in shame, his voice back to normal. "Oh, Blossom, what is wrong with me?" He lifts his eyes to me, they are now a dark brown of distress. "He said it would make me stronger, that I could be great. I do not understand!"

"Anything from Nightmare is bound to be terrible, why did you do it?" I ask him, filled with sorrow. I can see him struggling, the Darkness is trying to take hold of him again. "Prove you are strong, Meta! Resist it!" I tell him urgently, reaching for him.

His eyes turn a deep red again, but they keep flickering back to a golden yellow. "I am trying, Blossom. But it is stronger than I!" he tells me in fear and pain.

I hesitate, then reach into the bag of groceries and hand him a loaf of bread, a block of cheese, and a small pack of cookies. I press them into his gloves, then close his fingers around them. "I could be arrested for doing this, but I can't just leave you here hungry," I tell him gently. "If you can decide to come back to the Light, come find me."

He looks at the food and then at me. "Blossom, I..."

I draw my cloak back around myself and pick up the remaining groceries, walking off into the night. I wish with all my heart to hear footsteps following me, but I don't. "Fight it, Meta. You're strong, you're a hero. You can do it, Little Boy Blue."

_Meta's POV:_

I stare at Blossom as she leaves me, then down at the food. What did she mean, that she could be arrested for this? Then I realize, I am pretty much public enemy number one now, even if no one knows it is me. I suddenly also comprehend that the fact that no one knows it's me means that she hasn't told anyone who the traitor in their midst is. She is protecting me, even when I am hurting her so terribly.

I am filled with shame. Why have I done this? Why did I accept this 'gift?'

As I am standing here in the dark, mournfully, I hear a very young girl's voice, singing. I turn and see a little orange girl down the block, rocking a very young pink baby. The baby suddenly cries piteously. "Oh, hush, Pinky, koto. I don't have anything to feed you, koto," the little girl says sadly.

My heart goes out to them, and I walk closer. The girl hops up and hides behind a streetlight that is not on, the baby still in her arms. "It's okay," I tell her. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"But aren't you a monster, koto?" she asks me nervously.

"No, I am not a monster," I murmur, not sure if I believe myself. "I am _not_ a monster," I repeat, more forcefully. Looking down at her, I ask, "Where are your parents?"

"Daddy is in the army now, koto. And Mommy is inside, taking care of oneechan, koto. Oneechan is sick." I smile weakly at her use of the Ancients' word for 'big sister.' Clans may not matter anymore, but somewhere up the line, her family was of the Heritage clan, I can tell.

"Are you hungry?" I ask, then offer her the food. The baby, which is just a newborn, blinks open its eyes, which are a sapphire blue, and coos happily at the presence of the food.

"No, no, koto. Pinky, you're not getting all of the food," the girl laughs, and I warp away to a corner where I can continue to watch her. "Thank you, mister, koto," she begins, but suddenly realizes I am not there. She runs inside the house with the baby, happily shouting, "Mommy! Mommy! The Star Power sent a superhero to help us!"

I smile softly. A superhero, huh? I like that a lot better than being a monster. My eyes widen as I suddenly realize that while I was helping her, the Darkness weakened to a point where I could hardly tell it was there. I cannot completely get rid of it, but I can control it. I _can_ control it, for I am a hero.

I smile a little and hurry to find Blossom, when there is a fearsome roar coming from the mountains surrounding the city. Oh, Shotzo. I know what that is, it's a dragon. A dragon that I myself selected to come here. I hate myself, _why_ have I done this?

I see a Warp Star rise above one of the nearby buildings and automatically recognize the rider. "Blossom." I wait for more to join her, but no one does. I feel my heart sink. Even she can't take on a dragon alone. _She doesn't have to be alone,_ a voice suddenly whispers in my heart. _Help her, Meta!_

Without hesitation, I take flight and soar to where streaks of fire are beginning to illuminate a fierce battle. Blossom is doing well and holding her own, but suddenly, the dragon shoots fire straight at her. She is backed against a cliff, there's nowhere for her to run. "No!" I shout in fear, then understand what I must do.

_Blossom's POV:_

This dragon is the most fearsome monster I've faced in my time here. It's been sent to destroy the Star Warriors who are left on the planet's surface, and I am the only one here to stop it. I am alone. I hate being alone, I always have. It is the most painful thing for me.

The dragon is a dark black, darker than the darkest night, and has glowing red eyes. Eyes that remind me strongly of a pair that was looking into mine just minutes ago. I shove away the hurt that memory brings and bravely continue to fight, until the dragon sends another attack towards me.

The fire is streaking towards me, and there's nowhere for me to run. I block my face with my hand, as if that'll help, when suddenly a cloaked figure appears before me. He absorbs most of the fire into his cloak, then warps away again, appearing right next to the dragon. Stabbing at it, he manages to get a few swings in, then warps away again.

"Meta!" I laugh in relief, then try to join him. But the dragonfire that made it past him has welded my Warp Star to the cliff face. There is no way for me to help him, now. This is his battle, his testing. "You can do it, Meta!" I shout to him, hoping he hears me.

It is a long, terrible battle. I can't really tell who is winning. The dragon will manage to swipe him with its claws, he'll manage to get a swing in with his sword. They are both badly injured, when it seems to end. The dragon blows fire, and when the fire dims, there is nothing there. "NO! Meta!" I scream. It's over, it's over. I fall to my knees in sorrow.

But it's not over. The dragon lets out an awful shriek, and it falls from the air, landing on the ground with a horrible crash. It fades away, leaving no light but that from the moon and stars. A small figure continues to flap weakly in the air. "Oh, Meta," I murmur proudly. He did it. He must've warped away at the last second and found the dragon's weak spot, but it doesn't matter how. He's alive.

He lands on the ground, then collapses. I quickly puff up and float over to him, calling for a Warp Star, knowing that any one in the area will come to help me, seeing as how I am in need. He's hurt, and badly, but I'll be able to make him better. I'm good with helping the hurt and sick, I always have been.

"You're a hero, Meta," I whisper to him proudly, and he stirs slightly in his pained slumber. "Let's get you taken care of." I somehow pick him up, cloak, mask, and all, and put him on the Warp Star. In haste, I lead the Warp Star back into the city. "You're strong, Meta. You don't need the Darkness to be powerful or great. You already are."


	12. The Present Time, Part 5

Sakura sighed. "Do you really think that's a good idea?" Meta Knight had suggested they split up into two groups of four.

"It is logical, we can cover more ground that way. Besides, four is an appropriate number for a traveling party," he shrugged in reply.

"That, and you just don't want to have to put up with Magolor," she pointed out with a smirk. "So you're going to abandon me with him, so I have to be the one that keeps him from falling to his certain demise."

"Yes. I mean, no. Well, maybe just a little," he admitted. She laughed at him, not derisively, just out of her enjoyment of one of his rare flustered moments. "I am sure you can handle him, can you not? And besides, can you think of a better way to find our way back to Dreamland?"

"I guess not," she sighed. "But I still don't like it."

He nodded in agreement, but continued anyway, "I will take Sword and Blade, and-"

"Me!" Prince Fluff suddenly announced, popping up out of nowhere. Turning to Sakura, he whispered, (loud enough for Meta Knight to hear,) "I will keep an eye on him and make sure he is not just planning some devious deed."

Shaking her head, Sakura replied, "I'm sure that's not necessary..."

Prince Fluff refused to back down. "It is my honor to serve you so, Pr- I mean, Sakura."

Sakura giggled in amused annoyance at the little blue-green boy. "'Pr- I mean, Sakura' is basically your name for me, isn't it?"

He shrugged, just the tiniest bit offended. "Well, excuse me, Princess."

Meta Knight chuckled at their back-and-forth. "Well, then, come along, Fluff. You are free to make sure I am not plotting anything."

"See? He's up to something, I know it," Fluff murmured to her as he turned to go.

Sakura grinned at Meta Knight teasingly and waved goodbye. "All right, keep an eye on him, then, Prince. And Sir Knight, take care of him, okay?"

"Of course," he nodded, then he, Sword, Blade, and Fluff disappeared into one of the doors in this world.

"Well, I guess we should probably go somewhere ourselves," she suggested, turning to her part of the party. "Kirby, you ready?"

Kirby nodded with a grin. "Time to fight some monsters, poyo!"

"What about you, Hero Dee?"

"Dwee dee dwee!" Bandana said excitedly, twirling his spear into a short Waddle Copter.

"Magolor, try to stay out of trouble, all right?"

"Ay, ay, 10/4, roger, all that," he sniffed, his nose in the air.

She laughed. When he wasn't being a jerk, she liked Magolor. He wasn't bad company, he loved to talk about his travels.

The first area they entered was rather slow-paced, so for the most part, Sakura let Kirby and Bandana Dee handle it. She knew they were capable of taking care of themselves now, and besides, the more they helped with, the happier they were. She hung back with Magolor, making sure he didn't find some way to harm himself.

He looked at her in offended disbelief after a short while. "We're surrounded by flowers and trees. How in Halcandra could I manage to- ACK!" he spluttered, as a fountain appeared out of nowhere and propelled him into the air.

Sakura laughed at him, but then one got her as well, sending her several feet up into the air. "Hi, Princess. Thanks for joining me," he muttered sarcastically from his water spout next door.

"Oh, shut up," she snickered, splashing him. Moments later, they were returned to the ground, and they hurried out of that patch before they got soaked again. "Ugh, the water soaked into the yarn. I feel so heavy," she groaned in disgust.

"The sun'll dry you off," Magolor laughed at her. "Be glad it's not like it is on the Flame Planet, there volcanoes randomly shoot out of the ground."

She made a face. "Lovely. Why did you go there?"

"I heard the food was good. It wasn't, way too spicy. Don't ever waste your time on the Flame Planet. The Snow Moon, however, is extremely underrated. Beautiful place, never too busy, spectacular sunsets, and tons of stuff to do." Magolor told her eagerly, now in his element. She was beginning to think he should've been a travel agent or something. "There's winter sports, like skating and stuff, and there's also a really nice ice sculpture museum. Beautiful place," he repeated. "You should really go there someday."

She smiled. "Maybe, someday. I love snow."

"I've always loved it too. Mostly because on the rare occasions when it fell in Halcandra, we got the day off from school," he explained. "I was a smart kid, but I still hated school."

"I think I would've loved school. I was a servant until I received my powers, so I never really knew much. I wanted to read, so I listened in on Meta Knight's lessons with Kirby when I could, but I never really picked up much. I'm so glad I can read now, books are pretty much my life," she told him.

"That's right, you were a Waddle Dee. That stinks, just having to spend your whole childhood slaving away for DeDeDerp. You should sue him or something," he suggested, glancing over at her.

"Nah, it's not really worth it," she shrugged. "Watch out for the Gordo."

"Thank you," he murmured, ducking under the spike-ball just in time. "Why'd you turn into a Star Warrior, anyway?"

"I don't know. I wish I did. I wonder if I was meant to be a Star Warrior, but the books spoke of me as being a Kirby Dee, so I don't know. Sometimes, I feel like I was like this when I was really little, but I can't remember."

"No offense, but I'm really glad I don't have your memory," Magolor told her, sounding just a little bit sympathetic.

"None taken," she assured him. Just then, they caught up to the two little ones, who rang the bell at the end to signal they were done with this area.

When they got back out, she was a bit irritated to see that Meta Knight and his team had already finished two areas and started a third. "Showoff," she muttered, eyes narrowed. "Let's head over to the next world, they've got this place covered."

That turned out to be a bit of a dumb idea. The next world was a lot more difficult than this one, and had volcanoes which shot out of the ground. "Thanks for jinxing us," she huffed at Magolor.

"Not my fault, lady," he sniffed in reply. "Just cause I mentioned the Flame Planet doesn't mean I somehow planned this place out to be a death trap."

"All right, chill," Kirby glared at the two of them. "You're supposed to be the mature ones, poyo."

"Dee," Bandana Dee shrugged in agreement.

They managed to make it safely through most of the world, but the boss didn't go so well. When they finally made it out after defeating a sentient volcano, all of them were pretty badly injured. All except Magolor, who Sakura had told to wait outside.

"Oh, shoot! I'll go try to find some food or something," he told her quickly as soon as he saw them.

"Don't, you'll hurt yourself in the process," she ordered him weakly. She started to try to form some healing light, but she was too weak.

Suddenly, a flaming rock fell from the top of this piece of cloth. "Oh, just great," she moaned, trying to get up and use a Yarn Whip, but she was too tuckered out.

Magolor somehow managed to wrap it up and pull it out of the way at the last second. "We should probably get out of here," he told her in concern.

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "Thanks for, well, saving our lives."

"It's about time I returned the favor," he joked.

She tried to get the kids to move, but they were pretty slow. Poor Bandana was all the way down to his gray stage. They finally managed to make it under a ledge where the rocks couldn't fall on them. Magolor stood guard and wrapped up anything that tried to come and harm them.

Finally, Meta Knight and his party showed up. "Oh, there you are," he began, then saw how hurt they were. "Sakura, what happened?"

"We're fine, Sir Knight," she sighed. "We just had some trouble with the boss, is all."

"'Some trouble' is when it takes awhile. Coming out this injured is more than 'some trouble,'" he disagreed with a huff. "And, of course, Magolor is completely intact."

"Hey, don't pick on 'Lor. He saved our lives earlier," she told him.

"Oh. Really?" he turned to Magolor. "Is that true?"

"Afraid so, Meta-Not," he replied tersely. "For once, someone other than you saved the day at the last minute."

Meta Knight's eyes narrowed. "Well then, I suppose I owe you my thanks." He turned away toward the others. "Now, I will go find some food or some other form of healing."

"I'm sure there's some at the castle," Fluff told him from where he was talking to Kirby. "You'll have to be careful, though. Yin-Yarn's got the place packed with monsters. I guess he's guarding something, or something."

Meta Knight nodded. "I will return shortly."

Shortly turned out to be several hours later. When he got back, he handed Sakura a satchel without saying anything, which contained several apples. "Apples! My favorite!" she smiled at him wearily, then split them up between the three injured ones. Soon enough, they were all back to normal. Or so she thought.

That night, while the others were asleep, she heard strained breathing. She realized that Meta Knight hadn't spoken all evening, and also that he was now holding his arm weird. "Oh, Meta Bozo," she sighed in irritation as she moved so she was sitting in front of him. "What happened?"

"Many monsters," he managed to get out, then winced.

"There's a difference between chivalry and being outrageous. Why didn't you eat some of the apples?" she asked.

"Women and children first," he murmured.

"Let's get you taken care of," she replied, forming light in her hands. She waited until it was around a foot in diameter, then let it absorb into him. His breathing returned to normal. "Are you okay now? Was that enough?" she asked, then yawned. Using her healing ability always drained her.

"I'm fine," he replied.

She glared at him. "Back to normal, or just fine? Don't lie to me."

He chuckled softly. "I am as healthy as I have ever been, my friend."

She smiled softly, almost asleep now. "Don't mistreat yourself just because you're busy taking care of us." She stood up, wobbly, and kissed the little piece of his head that wasn't covered by his cloak or mask. "Thanks, Little Boy Blue," she murmured, then stumbled over to a cloth tree and sat down, asleep before she hit the ground.

He smiled at her fondly, then frowned. "Did she just call me... Little Boy Blue? How does she know about that?" He thought a moment, then shook his head. "It... couldn't be. I must have heard her wrong. I mean, it is impossible, is it not?"

The next morning, he asked her, "What did you call me last night, right before you went to sleep?"

She looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know, Sir Knight. You know that after I use my healing powers, my brainpower basically goes out the window." Laughing, she added, "For all I know, I called you 'Waddle Doo.'"

"All right," he nodded in reply, then thought to himself,_ I wish there was some way to know whether she really was Blossom or not._ He sighed softly and looked at her thoughtfully. _Maybe I will never know._


	13. The Other Time, Part 6

_Meta's POV:_

I groan and roll over. I feel so stiff, like I've been sleeping for days.

"Well, Sleeping Beauty, are you going to wake up?"

I blink my eyes open slowly. "Bl-blossom? What ha-happened?" I stammer. Yes, I know, so very eloquent. I see that we're in some sort of small apartment, and that Blossom is standing by a stove on the other side of the room. It's really dark, though. She has an old-fashioned oil lamp with her, and it's the only light in the place.

I sit up slowly, finding that I am lying on a small couch. Convinced that I'm awake, she comes over and looks at me. "You're doing a lot better," she murmurs, mostly to herself. Looking at me, she says, "I hope you don't mind too much, I had to take your mask off to help you."

"Of course I don't mind, you know what I really am," I reply, slightly offended.

She smiles, then touches her lips to my forehead for just a second. "Good, your fever's gone too. Do you feel like you could eat something? I've got soup. It's the canned kind, but it'll do."

"That sounds okay," I agree, then ask as she goes over and puts some in a bowl, "Where are we?"

"My apartment here in Startropolis," she explains, then adds before I can ask, "The lights are all off because of power rations. I'm only allowed to use the stove, and only for so long a day."

I nod once. "The war?..."

"Not much better, but no worse," she assures me.

I try to get up, but am too weak. "As soon as I am better, I am joining the army," I tell her matter-of-factly.

"I know," she replies quietly, then sighs.

"You will come with me, right?" I ask hopefully, then frown as she shakes her head.

"No, I have to stay here. But don't worry, we'll meet again," she reassures me, giving me a bowl of soup and some crackers. It's the chicken noodle kind, not my favorite, but it's all right.

"So, you will stay here and protect the surface?" I attempt to clarify, then begin to eat. I am famished.

"Not exactly. The army's got several knight guys in charge now, and they were smart enough to send a force down here to take care of any future attacks." She yawns and sits down on a wooden chair in the kitchen half of the room. "I am so glad you're okay. I'm so proud of you, Meta," she tells me with a warm smile.

"But why? I almost became a monster," I disagree sadly.

"Yes, but the way of Light is a narrow road. It's easy to fall off. But as soon as we are willing to put away the Darkness from ourselves and return, the Star Power is waiting with open arms," she reminds me.

"The road is narrow? I bet you've never fallen off," I say, still ashamed of myself.

She hesitates a second, then tells me, "I fell off once." With a sigh, she closes her eyes and continues, "When you were at camp when you were twelve, I misused my time alone. I... messed around with dark magic."

"You did what?!" I gasp in shock. That doesn't sound like her at all.

"I know, I know. I shouldn't have, I was an idiot. But I was so jealous of you and your cloak. I wanted wings, and I was willing to do something evil to get them." She pauses a second, staring at the floor in shame, tracing some random pattern onto the table she's sitting by with the tip of her finger. "Thankfully, the book slammed shut and flew into my face before I could complete the spell." She touches a slightly discolored spot on her forehead that I've never noticed before. "I had a goose bump the size of a watermelon for a few days."

I laugh quietly. "Well, all's well that ends well, I guess."

"My point is, nobody's perfect. We all have our bad moments. But there is forgiveness," she says with a grin. "You were on the wrong side for awhile, but you came back. I forgive you. You'll have consequences to deal with, but you'll be all right."

"Consequences? What consequences?" I ask, but then I feel it again. The monster inside of me, wanting to get out and destroy and harm. "Oh. Those consequences," I sigh.

"Yeah. But you're stronger than it is, right?" she asks me cheerfully.

"Yes, I suppose so," I mumble in reply. Now that I've eaten while she talked, I'm sleepy again.

"Rest, Meta," she tells me from her place across the room. "You've got a long war ahead of you."

Nodding, I close my eyes, and within minutes, I am asleep again.

_Blossom's POV:_

_Days later:_

We're standing just outside of Startropolis in the mountains, it's almost dawn. Meta's about to go off to the enlistment office, and we're saying our goodbyes.

I give him a hug, then remember something. "I need to knight you."

"What?" he asks, eyes dark green in confusion, looking at me weird from behind his mask.

"Well, you saved the 'princess' and slayed the dragon. A proper knighting ceremony is in order," I tell him with a grin.

"Do we really have to?" he sighs, but I can tell he's excited, even if he won't admit it.

"Kneel, Meta," I order. He hesitates a second, then does so. I smile at him and say, "You've always wondered, 'Meta what?' Well, you're not just the most loyal, or the most courageous, or the most chivalrous. You're not just the most observant, or the strongest, or the most reverent. You're all of those things. You're the most... knight."

"That's not grammatically correct," he mutters.

"Shut up," I laugh, then return to being serious. I draw my sword, then touch it to both of his shoulders. "I now dub thee Sir Meta Knight, Star Warrior of the realm. Rise, and serve thy planet well. May the Star Power's shining light go before thee to guide you," I say with grandeur.

As soon as I have finished, he stands up and looks at me. I stand still for a moment, trying to restrain myself, but I can't. I throw my arms around him, crying. "I'm so proud of you, Meta. You're really all grown up now. You're not just Little Boy Blue anymore."

He awkwardly hugs me back, he hates crying. "Thank you, Blossom," he says softly. "Thank you so much, for everything." He steps back from me, then his eyes, which were a deep blue (whether he will admit it or not) change to being a light blue of happiness. "'Meta Knight.' That is a name I will keep forever," he tells me, a twinge of emotion in his voice.

We stand there for a second, then he spreads his wings. "I should probably go now," he says slowly.

"Yeah, probably so," I agree with sadness.

He takes off into the sunrise, a brave warrior. I don't know exactly what he will experience, but I know he will come out of the war a changed person. I haven't told him, but the prophecies say he will essentially be the only Star Warrior left at the end. He's practically going to be the last of his kind. I wish I could go in his place and spare him, but I can't. "Take care of yourself," I shout after him.

He turns around and yells back, "I will. You take care of yourself as well, I will return someday."

I nod with a smile, but I know that I won't be here if and when he does. I've been telling him we'll meet again, but that could very well be a lie. I'm not staying here. I have a feeling I've felt before, a feeling that I'm needed elsewhere. My time on the Planet of the Star Warriors is quickly drawing to its end.

I wait until he's out of sight, then try to remember how I got here all those years ago. Even now, all I can remember is the light and that I was fighting a monster with three friends. I think hard, and manage to recall that I was the one making the light. So, to continue to my next destination, I will need to make the light.

I look at my hands, then close my eyes._ I can make light in my hands, _I think_._

_I can make light in my hands._

_I can make light in my hands._

_I_ _ca_-

I suddenly gasp as I feel something warm appear in my fingers. I open my eyes and see that there is a sphere of swirling, soft pink light sitting in my hands. I regain my focus, and continue to concentrate, until the sphere is bigger than I am. It surrounds me, and I begin to float above the ground.

I shut my eyes, expecting the tugging feeling I felt last time to return. Nothing happens, though, so I open one eye.

"Now," I hear a deep voice mutter, a voice that sounds vaguely familiar. A larger sphere appears around me, a much darker shade of pink. I know that I was not the one that made this new light, but I don't know who actually did.

The tugging feeling appears, and suddenly I'm soaring through space and time again. It's weird, it's like I'm surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow at once, all blending together into pure starlight. I can hear snatches of various conversations between random people, volcanoes erupting, oceans calmly crashing onto the beach. Millions of different things happening in billions of different places and at trillions of different times. It's far too much for comparitively simple me to absorb.

I smile and use the time to remember my favorite memories, in case I lose them all like I have forgotten my life before.

Meta, back when he was Blue, age six, bringing me a half petal-less wildflower and telling me he was going to marry me when he grew up. (Hey, every kid has a crush on one of his teachers at some point. Don't laugh at the little sweetheart.)

That time when he fell asleep on my head during the thunderstorm. Also the time when he did the same thing at his parents' house on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa to show up. He was sad when he woke up the next morning and had missed it, but didn't mind too badly. Santa brought him a bigger sword, a new book about knights, and a sled. What more could a seven-year-old want for Christmas?

One time, when he was ten, he had a really bad nightmare. He trusted me more then his parents, so he walked all the way to the library at three in the morning to talk to me about it.

And how could I forget the time when I found him, age eight, in the library kitchen, again at three in the morning, raiding the cookie jar? I had laughed and told him he had better not go on midnight snack raids again, or I would install a burglar system.

The farther I fly, the more I forget. I feel sad, but then I feel hopeful again. I can feel that I'm going... home. To _my_ home.

I'll be able to see my teacher again. I can't remember anything about him yet, but hopefully, I will soon. I know that I look up to him more than anyone else, that he's the Blossom to my Blue.

I'll be able to see all my friends again. I can't remember, but maybe I even have a family. Maybe not a mom or a dad or a sister, but maybe a little brother or two.

I smile one last time, letting the last memory of my Little Boy Blue seal itself away in some corner of my mind. I'll get those memories back someday. Hopefully someday soon. But if I never do, well, at least it happened. At least I got to treasure it for as long as I did.

I begin to feel exhausted from the time/space travel and all that goes along with it. I close my eyes and let myself fall asleep, feeling excited and hopeful, even if it is bittersweet.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?


	14. The Present Time, Part 6

Sakura sighed and sat down under a cloth tree. It had been a long day today, they had covered several more worlds. Patch Land was going by a lot quicker than her first quest had. All they really had left to clear out was a space-themed world, and then, the boss world.

Kirby, Fluff, and Bandana were all three asleep already, Sword and Blade were playing cards of some sort with Magolor. (She wasn't even sure where they got the cards at, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.) She would've spent the evening chatting with Meta Knight, but she couldn't find him, so she had taken a walk.

Suddenly, something fell out of the tree and landed on her head. "What?" she murmured, picking it up and inspecting it. It was a felt mask- and not just any mask, Meta Knight's mask.

"Oh, Shotzo," she heard him groan up in the tree. He had probably been eating something, she thought.

A tiny, wicked part of her wanted to make a comment about how it would make for lovely décor at the bottom of a pit. But, she knew what she really should do. Flying up while still facing away from the tree, she held it out to him and waited for him to take it.

He did so, jumping out of the tree to put it back on, facing away from her the whole time. He suddenly seemed to hesitate, then sighed. Still looking away from her, he said, "The longer you keep a secret, the heavier it becomes to carry. I feel as if I show you my real face, I will feel 'lighter,' as it were. I can trust you to not tell anyone what I truly am, correct?" When she didn't answer right away, he added, "I can, can I not, Sakura?"

She was silent another moment, amazed that he would even consider letting her see his face. "Are you sure you want to do that? You don't have to."

He nodded. "I know that, but I really think I would feel better if one person knew this secret as well as I."

"Well, then. Of course, I won't tell anyone. You can trust me," she told him quietly.

He turned around slowly, revealing himself to be a Star Warrior, just like herself and Kirby. She had had her suspicions, but she had assumed he wore the mask to hide his battle scars or something. He didn't have any obvious scars, but then, he was yarn at the moment.

He was a dark blue, which she had already known, but his eyes were a misty white. That surprised her, she had always assumed they were a golden yellow, like she saw through the mask. Suddenly, though, something clicked in her mind. "Meta?" she asked slowly, as all of her memories came pouring back.

He looked at her slightly strange. "Yes?..."

She laughed suddenly. "No, Meta! Little Boy Blue!"

He continued to stare at her in disbelief. "It cannot be," he murmured, shaking his head. "It is impossible."

"But it isn't! I'm Blossom!" she grinned. "I remember now! That's where I went! I went and trained you!"

He shook his head once more, but then a huge smile slowly spread across his face. "_You_ were Blossom. You _are_ Blossom!" He ran over to her, literally picking her up and spinning around once. "Sakura was Blossom! Sakura _is_ Blossom!" he laughed, then just as quickly as his joy had appeared, he grew serious again. He set her down and wrapped his cloak around himself so that only his eyes were visible. "My apologies, that was unnecessary."

She laughed, a grin still on her face. "It's okay, I don't mind."

He let his cloak go, revealing his face again. "So, you did not pass away in the war. This makes me very... happy." He then chuckled softly, "That is an understatement." Then he frowned. "But wait, you trained me, so I could go on to train you, so you could go on to train me, so I could go on to train you-"

Sakura wrinkled her face up. "Ugh. Paradox. I'm going to cut you off right there."

He grinned at her. "What is even more paradoxical is that chronologically, you trained me first, but in your life span, I trained you first. But chronologically, you trained me first-"

"Stop," she moaned. "You're making my head hurt!"

He laughed. "One more. For me, my training you has happened more recently. But for you, you have trained me more recently. But for me-"

"Stop! Please!" Sakura laughed, slightly aggravated. "You might be enjoying yourself, but my head is going to blow up!"

He smiled at her, shaking his head. "It is so good to know you are alive. You were- you _are_- my closest friend, and thinking I had lost you, along with all the others..." his smile faded. "It was nearly unbearable," he murmured, looking at her sadly.

She frowned, too. "I am _so_ sorry you had to go through the war. If I could've gone in your place, or if I could've gone with you, I would've in a heartbeat." She shook her head, "This is so weird. Just days ago, I was telling younger you goodbye and coming back here. And now, here we are. The war has been over for years, and it's been how long since that day?..."

"A couple of centuries," he told her. "A very, very long time."

"But it's been just days for me," she repeated. "And now, you're older than I am, and you're the one who's my teacher, and this is all just so... hard to wrap my head around."

He laughed at her again. "I know, it is for me as well. And, I think," he added, "that seeing as how we have both trained each other, that makes us equals. Although, I am still older than you."

"Is that a good thing?" she joked, making a face at him. "I get to be the young one, and you're old."

"I am _not_ old," he huffed, a bit offended. "Two hundred some years is still young for a Star Warrior. You are what, around thirty? You are still practically a child," he teased.

"I am not!" she disagreed with a giggle. "Thirty is definitely completely grown up!"

"I know, Sakura. I know." He paused, then asked, "Do you still want me to call you Sakura, or do you wish to go by Blossom?"

"Sakura, definitely," she answered without a second of hesitation. "That's my name."

He nodded. "Very good, I always thought Sakura would fit you better anyway. Oh, look, another paradox- I named you after yourself."

She groaned. "My whole life is a paradox, isn't it?"

"A wonderful paradox," he agreed. "The best paradox I have ever heard of."

She smiled warmly, glad to have all of her memories back. "And, of course, I won't tell anyone anything about that, either, unless you want me to. I know your past is a secret you like to keep to yourself."

"Yes, but as I said earlier, having another who knows it makes it easier to carry," he told her. "And there is no one I trust more to keep it secret than you."

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Meta Knight warped to where he had left his mask several feet away and pressed it back to his face. Sakura sighed, aggravated that someone was coming to interrupt what had been a very enjoyable conversation, which made him chuckle at her.

"There you are," DeDeDe suddenly grunted as he appeared from behind several cloth trees, coming over to them with Escargoon. "We've been looking everywhere for you guys."

"Oh?" Meta Knight and Sakura questioned at the same time, then gave each other a sideways glance and laughed softly. Clearing his throat, Meta Knight continued, "What did you wish to speak about, your Majesty? I trust you and Escargoon are doing well?"

"Well? If 'well' and 'terrible' mean the same thing!" Escargoon scoffed. "Yin-Yarn's taken over Dreamland and kicked DeDeDe out of the castle. And to make matters worse, we got a video message from Nightmare Enterprises."

"What?" Meta Knight gasped as Sakura's eyes grew wide in worry. "What did it say?"

"See, told you they would be interested," DeDeDe smirked at Escargoon. "It was the Salesman guy, letting us know this was a video message so we couldn't interrupt him and a bunch of other hooey."

"Oh, let me tell them, Sire," Escargoon sighed. Turning to Sakura and Meta Knight, he took a deep breath, then shouted out, "They'veleftsomesortofevildevicesomewhereinDreamlandbuttheywon'ttelluswhatitisorwhereitis."

As Escargoon took a breath, Meta Knight urged, "Please, Escargoon. You must calm yourself."

Escargoon nodded, then started again, "They've left some sort of evil device somewhere in Dreamland, but they won't tell us what it is, or where it is, just that it's set to go off tonight."

"A bomb?" Sakura guessed, her voice anxious.

Meta Knight shook his head. "No, that is not Nightmare's style. I am sure it is something much, much worse than a mere bomb." He sighed, his eyes turning red, but not the evil deep red. "That sickening monster. I should have expected that he would leave something behind himself. I just wonder why it is only showing up now."

"Did you try to interact with NME again?" Sakura asked, trying to find some logic in the puzzle they had just been presented with.

"Yin-Yarn pushed one of the buttons on the throne," Escargoon admitted.

"That must be what triggered it," Meta Knight muttered, deep in thought. "But, what is it in reality? And where is it?"

Sakura thought for a second, then gasped. "The Returning Darkness," she squeaked. "That's got to be what it is." Looking at Meta Knight in fear, she repeated, "It's the Returning Darkness."

"What is the Returning Darkness?" he asked her, growing nervous at her fear.

"I don't remember much about it, I just stumbled across it in a book once. A book that no longer exists. That dark magic book that I was trying to use to get wings? It had a prophecy about an evil sorcerer accidentally bringing the Returning Darkness upon a peaceful world. But that's all I read of that page."

He randomly noticed that the spot from her encounter with the dark magic seemed to be gone, but then he realized that her flower ribbon was covering it. "And, of course, the book no longer exists. But, perhaps, Nightmare left some sort of clue, somewhere." He shook his head in disgust. "That would be just like him, to set up some sort of sick treasure hunt."

Sakura nodded, feeling like she was going to be sick. Both at the knowledge of how completely evil Nightmare had been, and at her fear of their new mostly-unknown opponent. "We have to get back to Dreamland."

"We got you covered, there," DeDeDe grinned, pulling a magic sock out of his robe. "We managed to snatch it from Yin-Yang while he was snoozin'." He reached towards Sakura, trying to hand it to her.

"Ew," Sakura groaned, taking a step back. "That thing touched you. I'm not coming anywhere near it."

"I bathe every other day," DeDeDe snorted, offended.

"That's not nearly half as often as you need it," she disagreed, her face crinkled up unpleasantly.

"You had better be glad you're not a Waddle Dee anymore, or you'd be tastin' hammer, Kirby Dee," DeDeDe hissed at her.

"Please, it's Miss Kirby Dee to you, Penguin Man," she hissed back, eyes narrowed.

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty!" Escargoon interrupted in annoyance. Sakura and DeDeDe both glared at him. "Sorry, it got your attention," he shrugged.

"I'm _not_ a girl," DeDeDe huffed.

"And I'm a hero. I'm _not_ pretty," Sakura muttered, quite offended.

Meta Knight snorted quietly to himself, then covered it up with a cough. "I think what Escargoon is trying to say is that we need to concentrate on more pressing matters at the moment, Sire and 'Miss Kirby Dee.'"

Glaring at him, she grumped, "You're smirking right now, aren't you?"

Ignoring her, he ordered, "Come, let us return to the others."

"What about the rest of Patch Land?" Sakura reminded him.

"We have more pressing matters to attend to," he repeated. "We will return here when we can. We shall bring Fluff with us, he can stay at Castle DeDeDe while we deal with this new nightmarish plot against Dreamland."

"All right. Shall we leave Sword and Blade to guard him?" she suggested, saying it more as a statement than a question.

"Very well, but Magolor must remain at the castle as well," he compromised.

"Okay, then," she agreed.

"Can we please get on with it?" Escargoon pleaded.

"Yeah, c'mon, numbskulls!" DeDeDe shouted.

Sakura and Meta Knight nodded in unison. "Let us fly," Meta Knight told her.

"Right behind you, Sir Knight," she replied, and they both took off.

DeDeDe and Escargoon ran below them on the ground, panting hard in their attempts to keep up. "Ah, poetic justice," Sakura sighed in contentment, smirking down at them.

"I think you are enjoying yourself just a tad too much," Meta Knight chuckled.

"What, you don't get any pleasure out of seeing jerks get their just desserts?" she snickered as Escargoon nearly tripped both himself and the king.

"Well, maybe just a little," he admitted, half-smirking to himself.

They soon arrived back where the others were. "Sudden change of plans, up and at 'em," Sakura ordered, shaking the three little ones awake.

"What, poyo?" Kirby blinked blearily.

"Dee?..." Bandana yawned.

"What's going on? Halt, knaves," Fluff muttered, still half-asleep.

Sword and Blade hurried over. "What in the name of Mike is happening? How'd these two get here?" Sword questioned in confusion.

"Nugg tug bluggen, oi," Blade muttered, irritated at being dragged from his card game.

"Mind your language, Blade, there is a lady and children present," Meta Knight ordered him stiffly.

"Don't worry, Meta-Not, we can't understand a word he's saying," Magolor chuckled, joining the rest. "Now what's up, Princess?" he questioned, automatically turning to Sakura.

"Something bad is happening in Dreamland," she told them all. "We're not sure what yet, but we're going back right now. DeDeDe and Escargoon brought one of the magic socks, so we can get back."

"But what about Patch Land?" Prince Fluff asked angrily. "We can't just leave it like this!"

"We will return as soon as is possible, my small friend," Meta Knight reassured him.

"You're not my friend," Fluff sneered in reply.

"Fine, Your Highness," Meta Knight corrected himself tersely. "You will be staying at the castle, along with DeDeDe, Escargoon, Sword, Blade, and Magolor."

"Phew. No more being involved," Magolor exhaled in relief.

"Let's go," Sakura ordered. Jumping into the sock, she shouted, just for the sake of dispersing some of the tension, "Cannonball!"

The three kids laughed and copied her, leaping in right behind. DeDeDe just kind of fell in, Escargoon hanging onto his robe. Sword and Blade leapt in bravely, leaving just Magolor and Meta Knight.

"You first, Traitor," Meta Knight ordered, eyes narrowed.

"You know, you don't have to be quite so mean," Magolor snorted. "Sure, I was a badguy. But I'm not anymore."

"I will believe that when I see definite proof of it," Meta Knight hissed. "Now go."

Magolor made a face at him, then dove into the sock.

Meta Knight hesitated a moment, feeling like someone was watching him. "That is strange..." he murmured when he didn't see anyone. And then, he followed the others in, filled with both a feeling of nervousness at the unknown foe, and excitement. Quests were what he lived for these days. Everyday life in Dreamland had a tendency to be rather... dull. Although, having Sakura/Blossom around helped to make things quite a bit more interesting. He smiled once more at the fact that his two closest friends had actually turned out to be the same person. "A wonderful paradox," he repeated from earlier in a soft murmur. "The best paradox I have ever heard of."


	15. Part The Second

_The people who walked in Darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in a land of deep Darkness, on them has Light shined._


	16. Chapter 1

**(Author's note: You may have noticed I titled this chapter differently than what I have been doing, and of course, there was the last tiny chapter. The story's heading in a different direction now, so I thought it would make sense to chop it into two 'parts.' So that's what that's about. Thanks for reading! Also, if you enjoy this story, please check out WritingMagic's short stories, especially "Perfection of Shadows" and "Hope of the Stars." They're really brilliant. Thanks! E(: )**

Sakura took a deep breath of the fresh air back in Dreamland, in the castle courtyard. The sky was clear and full of stars. She loved the stars, she had never really been sure why. Maybe it was a Star Warrior thing. But then, she had only been a Star Warrior since she had gone back in time. She felt like she had more questions than answers about her past now. She had thought she knew that she always been a Waddle Dee, but lately, she had been wondering if that was the truth.

Suddenly, she was shaken out of her reverie by Kirby shouting, "Where'd the yarn go, poyo?"

Sakura gasped as she noticed that she was back to her normal self as well.

"What the heck happened to me? I'm not hollow!" Prince Fluff was panicking. "Augh, I'm not yarn! This is so weird! How do you people put up with this?!"

"You didn't change last time, poyo..." Kirby mused.

"Dwee?" Bandana asked, but no one paid any attention. In irritation, he walked over to Sakura and touched foreheads with her. "What's going on, Sis? What's with the yarn disappearing?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, buddy," she replied mentally. "I have just as much of an idea of what's going on as you do."

By this point, the others had returned as well. "This is strange," Meta Knight murmured in confusion. "What has happened to Yin-Yarn?"

"Who knows?" Sakura muttered. "This is really, really weird."

"Sure is, poyo," Kirby agreed, still looking at Fluff in confusion. "You look so weird as a regular Star Warrior, poyo."

"It's the eyes, probably," Fluff huffed. "Yarn Star Warriors have a different style of eye than you non-yarn weirdos."

"Wait a second, does this mean the Yarn Dees have turned into normal Waddle Dee? How will we tell them apart?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"That is simple enough, the Yarn Dees are the ones who can talk and who have a tendency to mock us shamelessly," Meta Knight explained.

"Good point," Sakura agreed with an absent-minded half-smile.

"Hate to interrupt," Magolor stepped between them, "but shouldn't you be doing something about the 'big problem' that brought us back here?"

"We were getting to that," Meta Knight glared at him. Turning to the king, he asked, "Sire, can you show us the video message?"

"Um, sure," DeDeDe agreed with a shrug, leading them all to the throne room.

"Pretty spiffy place you got here," Magolor commented. "Really nice. A guy could used to living someplace like this."

"Well, do not get too used to it. Your stay here is a _temporary_ one," Meta Knight muttered at him.

"Yeesh, you just really, really don't like me, do you? Oh well, at least Princess doesn't hate me," Magolor made a face at him. Meta Knight gave him the evil eye.

"Not a princess," Sakura called back from where she was flying ahead.

"Wait a second. You live in a castle, you have pretty wings, you have an awesome sword. How do you expect me to believe that you're not a princess?" Fluff suddenly asked her. "You just really don't want me to know for some reason."

Sakura facepalmed, pausing in midair. "Seriously, kiddo? Hey, DeDeDe," she said, shouting at the king. "Can you please tell Prince Fluff I'm not a princess?"

DeDeDe snickered. "She's not a princess, kid."

"Yeah, princesses are sweet and nice. Not loud and obnoxious," Escargoon agreed with a snort.

"I am not loud and obnoxious!" she huffed at him.

"I don't believe them, they're bozos. You're a princess," Fluff told her with a grin.

Meta Knight chuckled down on the ground. "You find this amusing, don't you?" Sakura muttered at him.

"Just a little," he admitted, eyes a light green.

They finally arrived in the throne room. "Now, let's see. Which button is it?" DeDeDe muttered, looking quizzically at his throne.

"Maybe this one?" Escargoon pondered, pressing it to no avail.

Sighing in annoyance, Sakura leaned over and pushed one of the buttons. The screen came out of the ceiling, just like old times. She had been on guard duty a few times while the king was video-chatting with NME, so she was used to it.

"How did you know which button to push?" Meta Knight murmured to her.

"I hit the one that was flashing a red light," she snickered.

"Ah, that makes sense," he muttered in reply, stifling a chuckle at the two royal stooges' level of stupidity.

The screen fizzed on, and everyone's jovial mood disappeared instantly. "Hey, D-meister! It's me, your friendly neighborhood NME Salesman! Now before you start flappin' your trap, let me tell you, you won't get any backtalk out of me. This is a recording, you should really look into those some time. Real in-ter-est-ing technology. Now, to get to the punch line. You're receiving this lovely telegram because apparently, Kirby and the other Sub-par Warriors managed to shut us down. But you, being Triple D, decided to try to get back in touch with us anyway. Sorry, better luck next time."

The Salesman had been his usual annoyingly chipper self, but suddenly, his mood darkened and he gave a evil grin. "But there won't be a next time. We've left you a little present, free of charge. Well, if you don't count the astronomical shipping and handling charges, but what's that between frenemies, am I right, D-Man? It's going to be going off not too long after you receive this message. Ooh, I have a feeling that by now little Meta Knight's watching this. Oh, boo-hoo, Nightmare pulled one over on you, didn't he, little hero? Should've stuck with the winning side."

The Salesman paused and gave a chilling laugh, then continued, "We may be gone, but the last laugh will be ours. Have fun driving yourselves crazy trying to find the plaything we left you. Because sorry, but you won't be able to. Of course, it wouldn't be any fun if you just resigned yourselves to your fate, now would it? So here's a little hint for you bubble-brains: It's somewhere with a lot of trees. Oh, my bad, Dreamland's drowning in trees, isn't it? Maybe you guys should've looked into the logging industry, because things are going to get rocky. Hasta la pasta, losers."

He gave another cackle, and they could hear Nightmare maniacally laughing in the background as well, and then the screen fizzed off. The monitor disappeared back into the ceiling, its metal joints giving a squeak that showed its lack of maintenance recently.

"Those guys just don't give up, do they?" Magolor murmured, giving a shudder.

"What do you know about Nightmare Enterprises?" Meta Knight demanded, turning on Magolor.

"Sheesh, chill out, Meta-Not. Everybody who's anybody knows who Nightmare Enterprises is. They kinda tried to take over the universe. And, I'm afraid to admit it, but I kinda live in the same universe as you," Magolor reminded him.

"Hmph," Meta Knight replied, eyes narrowed.

"And besides, sounds like you're not so perfect either, Mister Knight-In-Shining-Armor. Should've stuck with the winning side, huh? How long were you a baddie?" Magolor snickered.

"Yeah, I never would've guessed you worked for Nightmare Enterprises," DeDeDe chortled.

"I never did," Meta Knight lied, growing nervous, then feeling ashamed when Sakura glared at him. "They are simply trying to turn us against each other." He cleared his throat, ignoring the disapproving look Sakura was giving him. "So, what should we do now?"

"Well, I'm exhausted. So I'm going to bed," Fluff announced.

"Sword, Blade, show our two 'guests' their rooms," Meta Knight ordered his two followers.

"Yes sir, Mety-Knight. Then we're turning in, too," Sword told him.

"Sleepy tarf rarffen," Blade agreed with a yawn, and those three turned to leave.

"Hey, wait for me! I don't wanna get lost in this place!" Magolor squealed, chasing after them.

"So, it's going to be you, me, Kirby, and Bandana Dee. Just like old times," Sakura grinned at Meta Knight.

"Yeah, but I'm even more of a hero now, poyo. And so is Bandana!" Kirby reminded her excitedly.

"Dwee dwee!" Bandana agreed, giving them all a 'smile.'

"Yes, but this time, we do not have time to just go gallivanting all over the planet, as enjoyable as that was," Meta Knight said, his cloak drawn around himself and his eyes orange in deep thought.

"Someplace with trees..." Sakura murmured. "There must have been another hint in there somewhere." She closed her eyes, thinking hard. "He called us bubble-brains and said that Dreamland was 'drowning in trees.' So someplace with trees and water... Float Islands? Onion Ocean?"

"No, Whispy Woods. There's a river that flows through that area," Meta Knight realized.

"But the woods are huge, poyo!" Kirby murmured, wide-eyed.

Bandana touched foreheads with her. "He said something about it being rocky, remember?"

Sakura gasped, then grinned. "Bandana, you are a genius. It's in one of the caves on the river in Whispy Woods! It's gotta be!"

"'Bout time someone figured out I'm a genius," Bandana muttered mentally.

Meta Knight nodded once. "Whispy Woods... That is logical. But we could very well be making hints out of what was just mocking babble."

"It's the best chance we've got," Sakura reminded him, then shivered. She wished she had read more about the Returning Darkness, she really didn't like not knowing anything about their new enemy. "I wonder what he's like? Is he really big? Or is he a smaller, smarter monster?" she murmured aloud.

"Is it a monster at all?" Meta Knight pointed out. "They never said it was a monster, plus, they said it is about to 'go off.' I am assuming it is a device of some sort, although there is no way to know until we find it."

DeDeDe finally joined the conversation. "Welp, you guys got things taken care of, so I'm goin' to bed. Have fun doing the whole hero thing. It's really boring, glad I don't have to join you this time around."

"I'm glad I never have joined you. Much too dangerous for my tastes," Escargoon shuddered.

"Says the guys who bought monsters to unleash on a child," Sakura muttered, glaring at them. "You two are insufferable."

"Why, thank you. We try," DeDeDe smiled insincerely in reply, as he waved goodbye and disappeared out the doors. "Adios, amoebae!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Morons." But then she noticed several Waddle Dee watching her. "What is it, guys?" she asked them, quickly heading over.

The Waddle Dee looked at each other, then back at her. One of them came over and touched foreheads with her. "You're the one who used to serve with us, correct?" he asked.

"Yes, that was me," she replied affectionately in her mind.

"You be careful," he ordered, then, after hesitating a moment, he handed her a loaf of bread and a canteen of water. "I have served you," he said. "Now serve us by stopping whatever's coming. We can tell that it's something bad."

"I will serve you," she answered aloud. "Can you guys keep an eye on the yahoos while we're gone?"

"Of course," the Waddle Dee agreed with a single nod. Then, the whole pack of them waddled off into various parts of the castle to continue serving.

"What was that about, poyo?" Kirby questioned curiously.

"They just wanted to serve me so I would serve them in return by getting rid of whatever's coming. They say they can sense it in the air, basically," she explained with a frown.

"So you and I are not the only ones who have had a bad feeling recently," Meta Knight mused quietly.

"Waddle Dee are very sensitive to that sort of thing," Sakura shrugged. "We should get going."

"Indeed," Meta Knight nodded.

Sakura changed her cape into wings and gave Kirby a feather, and for the first time, he knew what to do right away. "Hai-yah! Wing!" he shouted happily.

"Ready to go, guys?" Sakura asked.

"You bet, Sakura poyo," Kirby grinned. Sakura smiled, the way he called her 'Sakura poyo' reminded her strongly of another little boy who called her 'Blossom ooyo.'

Bandana Dee touched foreheads with her. "Let's go, Sis! I'm ready to pull some awesome Hero Dee moves!"

"As always, I am quite prepared, as well," Meta Knight answered, letting his wings spread.

"Then let us fly," Sakura grinned, saying Meta Knight's line before he could.

His eyes glowed green in amusement at her. "Yes, indeed."

And the four heroes took off into the middle of the night, ready for another quest together.


	17. Chapter 2

Just minutes before our heroes left the castle, the box, which was indeed in Whispy Woods, but in a cave deep, deep underground; reached zero. The screen shut off, and for a second, nothing seemed to happen. But then, the thick darkness of the cave seemed to somehow grow even darker. For out of the box was coming a thick, black fog.

This fog, the Returning Darkness, was not sentient. It was just a fog. But that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. It continued to swirl slowly along the floor of the cave, moving whichever way the drafts carried it, until it finally reached the entrance. There, a single leafy plant was growing, its leaves curled in toward itself for the night, waiting for the sun to return.

When the fog touched its leaves, at first, nothing happened. But after several seconds in the fog, it drooped, as if sad. It slowly began to turn gray. It was still alive, completely physically intact, but one could hardly tell.

The fog continued to pour from the cave, spreading out across the ground, and rising up into the sky, beginning to block the moon and stars. Slowly, slowly, it began to cover Dreamland in darkness.

_Meta Knight frowned. He had been in Dreamland for several years, and it was rather... boring. There was no one who matched him in skill, and the great hero who he was waiting for to mentor, 'Kirby,' had only shown his face a few times. One of those times had been to interrupt the training simulation he had been running with his Battleship Halberd and crew. They were simply pretending to take over Dreamland for the sake of keeping themselves sharp, (and for the sake of not being bored for an afternoon,) but Kirby had arrived out of nowhere to stop them. He was still trying to put the pieces of his giant flying masterpiece back together. And he was still waiting for Kirby to make his permanent arrival._

_Today was a lovely summer day, so he had decided to take a book out into the Star Warriors' Garden and read. What had caused his frown was he had heard a rustle in the hedges. _It is nothing,_ he thought after a minute, but seconds later, it happened again. He heaved a sigh and got up to see what it was._

_Peeking into a hollow spot in one of the hedges, he was surprised to see a very young Waddle Dee watching him. Now that it was discovered, the young one's chestnut eyes opened wide in fear, and it backed farther into the hedge._

_"Come here, little one," he beckoned it. "I will not hurt you." He didn't want to think of it as an it, but seeing as he had no way of knowing whether it was a girl or boy, he didn't have much choice._

_It stared at him and held its hand to its face as if it wanted to suck on it, then seemed to remember it didn't have a mouth and put both its hands behind its back. Its eyes still wide, it slowly shook its head at him._

_He thought for a minute, then returned to the ever-blossoming cherry tree he had been sitting under and picked up the apple he had brought with him. Coming back to the hedge, he held the apple out to the little Waddle Dee. "Come here," he repeated. "Would you like an apple?"_

_The little one hesitated, then slowly waddled out of the hedge and accepted the fruit with both hands. It didn't eat it, it just held it. Blinking up at him with its two big, chestnut eyes, it tilted its head and closed its eyes in a Waddle Dee 'smile.'_

_He smiled to himself, this Waddle Dee was an adorable child. "Would you like to keep me company while I read?"_

_The Waddle Dee thought a moment, then nodded eagerly. They returned to the tree and both sat down, and Meta Knight resumed reading to himself._

_A few minutes later, the Waddle Dee tapped him on the glove. "What is it?" he asked. When it tapped the book, he questioned, "Do you want me to read aloud?"_

_The Waddle Dee nodded eagerly again, so he chuckled and did so. After about an hour, though, he jumped when he felt something snuggle up to him. He looked down beside him and saw that the Waddle Dee had curled up next to him and fallen asleep, the apple still in both its hands._

_Tucking a corner of his cloak around it, he muttered compassionately, "Poor little thing. Only a child, and DeDeDe already works it to exhaustion."_

_He continued to sit there and read until it grew dark. Then, he gently woke the little one up and asked it, "Can you find your way home, or do you need me to help you?"_

_The child thought for a minute, then blushed and nodded, rubbing its head in embarrassment. "I thought as much. Come along, then," he chuckled, tucking his book under one arm and taking the little one's hand in his free hand. The Waddle Dee walked quickly along with him, its apple still its other little paw-like hand._

_They soon arrived at the Waddle Dee sleeping area. "I wish you a good night, little one," he told it. It gave him another 'smile,' then disappeared into the room full of other Waddle Dee. "I will probably never interact with that particular Waddle Dee again, and even if I do, I will probably not be able to tell it apart from another. It was a sweet child, though," he murmured to himself as he returned to his room for supper._

Meta Knight yawned and awoke to the sun streaming in through his mask's eyepiece. That had been a pleasant dream, he had completely forgotten that day until now. Now, he smiled, as he had a feeling that little one had been Sakura. He had no way of knowing for sure, but as I said, he had a feeling.

He sighed and stood up, letting his cloak turn into wings and stretching them in the sun. It was probably early afternoon. Last night, little progress had been made. The party had flown along the river in Whispy Woods, looking everywhere and in every cave for the... whatever-it-was. But there was no sign of it in any of the places they had looked, so Sakura had finally convinced him to let them stop for the night.

_Speaking of Sakura, where is she?_ he wondered. He looked around himself and saw the two little guys, but not Sakura. But after just a second, she appeared out of the trees, carrying a simple leather satchel.

"I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk and found some berries. So then I flew back to the castle and found something to put them in," she explained as soon as she saw him, opening the bag and showing him the fruit.

"Very good, Kirby and Bandana Dee will much appreciate that as well," he nodded at her. "Did you get enough sleep, however?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded with a smile, then went to wake the two kids.

Meta Knight drew his cloak around himself, and walked a ways, knowing that Sakura would make the small two save him some breakfast for when he was ready for it. But then, he spotted the fog, creeping towards them. He frowned to himself, fog wasn't very common this time of year, and this variety seemed sinister. "Sakura, come look at this," he called.

Moments later, she flew over. "That _is_ kind of strange," she murmured, landing close to it.

"What is it?" Meta Knight wondered aloud. "Do not get to close to it, Sakura," he warned, but it was too late.

The fog reached her, and at first she seemed fine. "There's nothing wrong with it," she called out to him, facing away from him, but her voice seemed sad. After another minute, her wings, which were still out, began to droop in a heart-wrenching way. "Oh, what's the point of trying to fight it? It's hopeless," she sighed, and began to turn gray.

"Sakura, get out of there!" he shouted. He flew over, but as soon as he touched the fog, he began to feel sad, almost broken-hearted, even. He inhaled sharply and pulled away from it, and as soon as the sunlight touched him, he returned to being all right. "It is some sort of cursed fog, you _must_ get out of there!"

"Haven't you figured it out?" she whimpered mournfully. "This is the Returning Darkness. But it doesn't matter." She paused a second, then nearly sobbed, "Nothing matters."

He had to get her out of there, she was turning more and more gray as seconds passed. The more time passed, the farther from her he was driven by the Returning Darkness, and the harder it became to see her. _What is the best way to fight sadness?_ he puzzled, then had an idea. He remembered the day he first flew, the feeling of joy that had filled him. The memory filled him with joy again, joy enough to keep him together while he flew into the fog and managed to drag Sakura out. He carried her into the sunny area they had started in, and the sunlight slowly brought her back to normal while Kirby and Bandana Dee watched in confusion.

"How do we fight that?" Sakura asked, still sad, although no longer quite as crushingly depressed.

"Fight what, poyo?" Kirby questioned, and Meta Knight briefly explained it to him. "Oh. That sounds really bad," he shuddered.

"Indeed," Meta Knight agreed simply.

"How come you were all right?" Sakura muttered, her color having completely returned now.

"I remembered the first time I flew, the happiness kept the sadness away long enough to get you out," he told her. "Are you all right now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, giving him a weak half-smile. "Good memory, huh? I need to remember that. Flight is good, but I'd probably remember the Northern Lights. Those were beautiful." She closed her eyes, remembering how the colors had streamed through the sky. "I want to see those again, someday."

He smiled to himself, that night was a pleasant memory for him, too. Well, until Magolor had showed up and tried to make his monster within get out. That part had not been pleasant at all. He really couldn't stand Magolor, he just really rubbed him the wrong way.

Bandana Dee waddled over to Sakura and touched his forehead to hers. "We can't fight it with spears or swords, what can we-"

"It's getting close, poyo," Kirby stole her attention suddenly, pointing to nearby trees. "What should we do?"

"Get out of here," Sakura declared, taking flight. "We'll figure out something when we're somewhere that's safe."

"I do not think anywhere will be safe, for long," Meta Knight mused nervously. "But yes, we should definitely get out of this area." He took off as well, and Kirby and Bandana quickly followed.

"Where can we go? What can we do?" Sakura worried as they flew. "And why is it 'Returning Darkness,' instead of just 'Darkness?' It's never been here before."

Meta Knight thought for a moment. "I cannot answer those questions, but I know who can, if he is of a mind to. I think it is time to pay a visit to Kabu Valley."

Sakura wrinkled her face up. "That talking statue guy gives me the creeps."

"How do you even know who he is?" Meta Knight asked in surprise.

"I was a Waddle Dee. I had to follow the king all over the place sometimes," she reminded him with a shrug.

"Ah, that makes sense. And yes, I do not enjoy speaking to him either, but what other choice do we have?" he pointed out.

"He's got a point, poyo," Kirby agreed with a midair shrug.

"Dwee," Bandana nodded.

"But how much help will he be?" Sakura murmured. "He usually just tells everybody, 'There is nothing you can do.'"

Rolling his eyes, Meta Knight sighed. "That is true. But do you have a better plan?"

"Not really," Sakura admitted.

"Then to Kabu Valley it is," he ordered, changing course. "We should arrive there within the hour, if we hurry."

Sakura nodded once, then fell into deep thought. The Returning Darkness had filled her with such a sense of sadness and hopelessness, just remembering it made her want to cry. _How could anyone release something like that onto anyone? How could anyone's heart be so full of evil that they wish hopelessness onto a fellow creature?_ she thought sadly, then her eyes flashed with anger. _I know I shouldn't hate anyone, that hate will turn me into a monster, but I hate Nightmare. He's gone, and I still hate him. I never met him, and I still hate him. I will probably always hate him._ She took a deep breath and calmed herself. _Don't think like that, Sakura, it's not a good plan._

Meta Knight had observed her face as she had done this, and the changes that had come over it. She had started out sorrowful, then angry, then almost sinister, then sad again. He had a feeling he knew what she had been thinking about, he had experienced the same thought pattern countless times before. "Do not allow a hatred of Nightmare to bring you down to his level," he told her softly.

"I know," she whispered back, not even surprised that he had guessed what she was thinking. "But it's hard to not hate him, when he was practically pure hatred himself."

"I know," he replied quietly, staring sadly at the few white clouds below them.

"Sakura! Come spend some time playing with us instead of always talking to Meta Knight, poyo!" Kirby suddenly flew between them and whined.

"Dwee," Bandana agreed with an offended huff.

"All right, all right," Sakura laughed, then smiled apologetically at Meta Knight. "My 'brothers' need me."

"That's all right," he reassured her, and she flapped off to join the boys. _Still the same Sakura,_ he thought with a warm smile. _The little ones come first. I can be satisfied with being second._ _Now..._ he changed subjects in his head. _I hope Kabu is willing to be helpful, because for the first time, I have absolutely no idea what to do. And I cannot just sit back and let that fog destroy my home and my friends._

His eyes narrowed in determination. "Whatever it takes, that is what I will do," he muttered softly, clenching the hilt of his sheathed sword out of habit. "I will not let everything be taken from me again, no matter at what cost." His voice grew darker, and his eyes began to glow red. "Nightmare, this will be the last time you show your face, the last time you try to take everything away from me, the last time you try to fill me with misery. And the last laugh will not be yours, you_ foul_ monster."

He took a deep breath, then hissed almost silently, "For I will do whatever it takes to stop you, _whatever... it... takes_."


	18. Chapter 3

The heroes soon arrived in Kabu Valley. "Well, poyo," Kirby started in an effort to ease some of the tension, "If we need the Warp Star really fast, we'll be all set."

Sakura smiled at him nervously, but neither of the other two paid attention. Taking a deep breath, she said after no one else spoke, "Um, hello Kabu. We-"

"I have been expecting you," the statue suddenly interrupted, then became silent again.

"Okay?..." Kirby prompted.

"You have come to seek my advice, but I will not give it. Yet," Kabu stated simply. "I have something else to speak to you about. I will show you the past or the future of one of you. It is your choice who, it is your choice who will see, and it is your choice whether you view the past or future."

Sakura frowned to herself as Meta Knight sighed, "We do not have time for this, we-"

"You will see it in a place where there is no time. No time will pass here while you are gone," the statue reassured him.

"Well, poyo, we don't need to know my past. I don't care," Kirby shrugged. "I live in the present."

"Dee-ee," Bandana agreed with a matter-of-fact nod.

"I know my past already, and I do not wish to re-experience it. And, none of us should view our future. For once you have been told the future, it is set in stone, and there is no way to change it, for better or for worse," Meta Knight spoke.

"Well," Sakura piped up quietly. "If none of the rest of you want it, do you think that maybe, we could see my past?"

Meta Knight looked over at her curiously. "Do you not already know your past?"

"I've forgotten most of it, remember? And, something tells me I don't really know much about my past at all," Sakura disagreed. "I want to know if I was always a Waddle Dee, because I don't always think I was."

"Well," Meta Knight began slowly. "If no time passes here, you may go."

"We'll stay here, and be frozen or whatever since no time is passing, poyo," Kirby told her with a grin.

"Dwee," Bandana agreed.

"So, you wish to view Sakura's past?" Kabu questioned. "Who will go?"

"Will you come with me?" Sakura asked Meta Knight softly. "I don't want to be alone."

Meta Knight hesitated, then nodded. "Very well."

"So, Kabu. It will be Meta Knight and I," Sakura turned back to the statue.

"Very well," Kabu began. "But once you begin, you cannot stop. Do you understand?"

Well, that sounded encouraging. Gulping, Sakura nodded, "Yes."

Suddenly the world around the two of them disappeared, leaving them standing in empty blackness. "Wh-where are we?" Sakura asked anxiously.

"Between dimensions, I believe," Meta Knight answered her, his cloak drawn around himself. "This is where I go when I warp. No time is passing back in reality, just as Kabu said."

Kabu suddenly began, "There was a prophecy."

When he didn't speak again for a long moment, Sakura prompted, "A prophecy?"

"A prophecy," Kabu repeated. "There were to be two heroes. These heroes would train each other, then one would go on to train the great Warrior of the Stars."

"That is us and Kirby," Meta Knight realized.

"Yes, so it is," Kabu agreed. "But Nightmare knew that the one called Kirby would come to destroy him and end his reign of terror. So, he thought to get rid of the one who would mentor him. And, in order to get rid of the one who would mentor Kirby, he must deal with the one who would train the one who would mentor Kirby."

"I'm confused," Sakura mumbled. "What you're trying to say is that he had to get rid of... me?"

"That is exactly what I said," Kabu stated. "So, this is what happened."

Suddenly, a room appeared around them. In this room were two other Star Warriors, one a very light gray with sapphire-blue eyes, and one a deep black with chestnut eyes the same color as Sakura's.

"Charcoal, why do they want her? She is only a baby," the gray one said in fear, her voice revealing her to be female.

"I don't know, but we won't let them take her, Heather. I won't let them take our Yuki," Charcoal reassured her in a deep, calming voice.

"'Yuki?'" Sakura murmured.

"'Snow,' in the language of the Ancients," Meta Knight mused softly.

Suddenly, there was a baby's cry. Heather picked up a bundle and pulled the corner of the blanket back, revealing a pure white baby Star Warrior with chestnut eyes. "Hush, Yuki-chan. It will be all right," the mother calmed her child, then sang, "Peace comes with the dawn, the light drives out all fear. Just close your eyes my child, and keep my heartbeat near."

"That's where I learned that song," Sakura breathed. "I heard it in my dreams, and that's where I learned it."

"You mean?..." Meta Knight murmured.

"Yes, I think so," she said in amazement, turning to him. "I think that Yuki... is me."

"It is so," Kabu suddenly said. "But you would not be in that form for long."

Suddenly, monsters burst through the door and took the child from Heather. Charcoal tried to fight them off, but failed. "Thanks for the contribution, Nightmare really appreciates it!" one of the monsters cackled, flying off with little Yuki, who was crying.

"Do not take my Yuki! She is my only child!" Heather pleaded.

"Poko!" the baby shouted out to her mother in terror.

"Shut up, kid," the monster growled at her, which scared her into silence.

The scene suddenly changed, and they were in Nightmare's fortress. A nervous Salesman started, "Um, sir, I hate to bother you, but..."

"But what? Spit it out already!" Nightmare hissed back. "Can't you see I'm busy, fool?"

Stuttering, Salesguy continued, "B-but we have a problem. That little Star Warrior girl we kidnapped? The one that was still really young?"

"What about her? Is she doing badly in the monster training?" Nightmare growled. "We can always just dispose of her, if that is the case."

"N-no, it's the opposite. We've been training her, like you ordered. Pr-problem is, she's too good," Nightmare's chief underling answered, shrinking down over his computer console.

In annoyance, Nightmare demanded, "What do you mean, 'too good?' How can she possibly be 'too good?'"

"She's rebelling, is how she's too good. She won't listen to the trainers, and she has a short temper, which seems to lead to disastrous results. In other words, she has a tendency to try to wreck things. Try and usually succeed, I should say," Salesguy laughed nervously, trying to make things sound better than they actually were.

"Nightmare tried to train you to be a monster? I am sure that went well for him," Meta Knight murmured scornfully.

"I guess we'll find out," Sakura muttered in reply, although she had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

Meanwhile, Nightmare sighed. This was just a minor annoyance, this would only take a moment to fix. "Bring her to me. We will scare her into submission." Seconds later, in front of Nightmare appeared a young, pure-white Star Warrior girl. "So what is the problem with her, exactly?"

Our heroes couldn't see her face, but suddenly the little one stuck her hand in her mouth and turned defiantly away from Nightmare, without saying a word.

_I'm just a little kid. I can't be too much older than little Blue was when I first met him,_ Sakura mentally observed.

"See?" the Salesman sighed. "She's like that with all of the monster trainers. Never says a word, for the most part. Just turns away."

"Hmm. What name does she go by?" Nightmare asked Salesguy, but he received an answer from a different quadrant.

"The trainers all call me Little Terror, but my real name is Yuki," she informed him scathingly, still not deigning to look at him.

"Yuki, turn around," Nightmare ordered. Sakura and Meta Knight could see her roll her eyes in disgust as she refused to comply, making Meta Knight chuckle softly. "Do as you are commanded, or I will destroy you," Nightmare threatened, voice rising in pitch as he yelled at her.

Sighing rebelliously, the little girl did just that. "What you want, Nightmare poko?"

"Yuki," the horrid monster replied in a terrifying tone of voice, "You are one of my soldiers. You are to do as you are told."

"I don't want to do what I'm told. I'm strong, poko, and I'm not scared of you. I can be great by myself," she hissed at him.

"Be great by myself," Meta Knight almost silently repeated, remembering his own confrontation with Nightmare.

"What?" Sakura glanced over at him, confused.

"Nothing," he shook his head, and turned his thoughts back to the memory playing out around them.

"Strong? You are no stronger than any other Star Warrior. You have no special power to defeat me with," Nightmare was disagreeing with Yuki, sounding almost amused.

The little one turned away from him again, as if bored. Then, smirking just a bit, she muttered dangerously, "You wanna bet, poko?"

Sakura jumped as the little monster's eyes turned a dull red and a dark cloud began to appear around one of her paws. "I'm a lot stronger than you think I am, poko."

"What's she talking about?" Nightmare questioned the Salesman in irritation. "Since when can Star Warriors use dark magic?"

"Well, that's what she showed an aptitude for, so that's what we've been training her in. But, like I said, she's rebelling and just making a mess of things," Salesguy answered, trying again to laugh it off.

"Most Star Warriors fell when Nightmare attempted to turn them into monsters. You must have had a strong will," Meta Knight commented, sounding almost proud.

"I don't think that's it," Sakura whispered, her bad feeling growing stronger.

Meanwhile, everyone's attention was turned back to Yuki as the little girl muttered something under her breath, then almost lazily let the cloud go toward a computer. Right before it entered, it paused, and seemed to turn back towards her. "Go on, poko," she prompted it.

Without another moment's hesitation, the cloud entered the computer. Instantaneously, all of the computers around it started going haywire, while Yuki giggled eerily.

"Yikes!" the Salesman squawked, typing furiously into his computer terminal.

Nightmare shrieked in rage. "Look, little terror, I don't care who you think you are. I am Nightmare, and the universe is going to be mine!"

The little girl giggled again. "You really think you're ever going to win? We all know the prophecies. The Warrior of the Stars is going to take you down, someday. Maybe then I can take over. Who knows? It might even be fun, poko."

"Did you just say you wanted to take over the universe?" Meta Knight muttered, confused.

Sakura didn't answer, too busy glaring at her past self. "You little bozo! What are you doing? Dark magic is bad! Bad Yuki!"

Nightmare threw a spell at Yuki, which she easily dodged. With another shriek, he sent a spell out that made the computers return to normal, then turned to her again. "You know I cannot just let you get away with this. You will have to pay," he hissed at her, eyes narrowed.

"Ooh, I'm so scared, poko," she laughed back coolly.

Nightmare threw spell after spell at her, but she just easily dodged them all, either by using spells of her own, or by some sort of invisible force-field protecting her.

"S-sir. She's the one in the prophecy," the Salesman realized, turning back toward his master again.

"What prophecy?" Nightmare and Yuki demanded simultaneously, then glared hatefully at each other.

Apologetically, Salesguy explained, "The prophecy about the one that rebels. The one that will go on to train a young Star Warrior someday, who's then going to go on to mentor and protect the Warrior of the Stars. She's going to indirectly help take you down."

Nightmare turned back towards her, his eyes now filled with even more hatred. "Ah, yes. _That_ one."

"But remember, she has the charm on her. Just like all our other sorcerer monsters, we also put a protection charm on her. She can have dark magic be used against her, and even on her, but only if it will not actually harm her," Salesman reminded him, trying to sound like he was terribly sorry about the whole thing. He didn't want Nightmare to come after him instead, after all.

"So, I get to help get rid of you? Sounds fun to me, bozo poko," Yuki smirked, crossing her little arms.

"We must get rid of her. We must dispose of her!" Nightmare shrilled. Salesguy shuddered. The boss was absolutely terrifying when he got like this.

Meanwhile, Meta Knight glanced over at Sakura. "I do not think your younger self had the right motives."

"Just shut up," she hissed at him, making him jump. "Sorry. We all have our bad moments," she repeated from years before, (weeks for her,) closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath to calm herself.

Nightmare was busy angrily throwing another cloud at the little girl. "I will make her weak. I will make her useless. I will make her pathetic and simple," he cackled as she was surrounded by the cloud. Amazingly, Yuki still seemed rather unimpressed and calm.

"No matter how you fight it, you can't stop it, poko. Prophecies always come true," she laughed gleefully, then fell silent.

There in front of Nightmare appeared a Waddle Dee. Blankly, she stared around herself, not sure who she was or where she was.

"What are we going to do with that?" Salesguy asked, incredulously.

"What we do with all our junk. Dump it on our client on Popstar, the one in the future, and charge top dollar for it," Nightmare shrugged, while Meta Knight and Sakura both snorted quietly. "Get it out of my sight. I never want to see it again."

Trying to be helpful, the Salesman reassured him, "According to the prophecy, you never will."

Flying into a rage again, Nightmare screamed, "I don't care about the blasted prophecy! If you value your life, you will never mention it again. Am I understood?"

"Very," his poor employee squawked back, picking up the Waddle Dee and dropping it onto the delivery system.

"I was raised as a monster. That's why I find dark magic fascinating. That's why I want to use it," Sakura closed her eyes again and whispered. Meta Knight offered no comment. Someone else had caught his attention.

All of a sudden, the scene changed again; they were now in the castle throne room. "What in Dreamland is this little bozo doing in my throne room?" a younger and slightly less plump version of DeDeDe shouted, nudging the little Waddle Dee with his foot.

"I don't know, Sire, I'll take it out into the courtyard," a younger Escargoon assured him.

She was indeed left there unceremoniously. Meta Knight and Sakura could hear her think, "Where am I, poko? What's happening, poko?"

Several Waddle Dee waddled over to her, and they could hear their thoughts as well. "It looks like us, but it's not one of us," one of them murmured.

"It's not part of the one mind," another observed.

"Should we leave it?" another questioned.

One that was probably about a teenager came over. One with blue eyes, unlike all the others. "Sailor Dee, I would recognize him anywhere," Meta Knight suddenly observed, turning his attention away from what had distracted him for just a moment.

Sailor Dee scolded them, "Well, we can't just leave the poor kid alone. And I think the reason she's different, is she's a she."

"I've never seen a she-Waddle Dee before," one of the others thought. "I don't know if we can trust it."

"I'm letting her into the one mind," Sailor Dee declared, walking over to her.

"No hurt me, poko," she thought at him as soon as she could.

"Well, being turned into a Waddle Dee sure changed my attitude toward everybody right away," Sakura muttered, somewhat bitterly. "A few minutes ago, she would have just chucked a spell at him like DeDeDe chucks Waddle Dee at things."

Meta Knight smiled to himself absent-mindedly, but offered no reply.

"I won't hurt you, kiddo. What's 'poko' mean?" Sailor Dee questioned gently.

"I not know, poko," the little one told him, eyes wide in fear. "I just say it, poko."

"Well, you'll have to stop, sweetie. I don't know what you were, but you're a Waddle Dee now. C'mon, I'll show you around. I'll teach you," he reassured her. "You can serve with us, and we'll take care of you."

"So that's how I became a Waddle Dee," Sakura murmured, starting to relax a bit now that evil little Yuki seemed to be gone.

As time went on, they observed that she quickly re-developed a bit of a rebellious streak. "I not want to help the king, poko. He's a bozo, poko," she told Sailor Dee with a huff one day.

"Yes, but it's our job, kiddo," Sailor Dee told her.

It was later shown that the Waddle Dee Meta Knight had read to that day was indeed little Sakura. "I remember now," Sakura laughed. "I thought you were scary, like the others, but I also thought you were really smart and cool."

Meta Knight smiled to himself again, paying more attention now. "That sounds like you."

They watched years pass quickly by, being only shown the summary of what happened. Sailor Dee eventually left to go on an adventure with Meta Knight and crew and never came back. "Because he became an outcast," Sakura realized. "That's why I can't remember him, he left so early on."

"So that's why I can't remember the snow or the yarn," Sakura later groaned when it was shown that she had a habit of getting herself lost in the castle dungeon. "No! You've already gone that way four times! Go the other way! Augh!"

Meta Knight laughed at her. "You apparently did not have much of a sense of direction."

"Oh, shut up," Sakura laughed, no hiss or bitterness in her voice this time.

It was also shown that she liked to serve Meta Knight when she could, always eager to be the one to take him his tea or whatever, because she wanted to learn from his lessons with Kirby. And also, because he was willing to let her sit and listen to him read at times. And, of course, because he was the one meant to train her, and vice versa.

"So that was always you. I had always supposed it to be multiple Waddle Dee," he chuckled softly in surprise.

Once she got older, she began to spend nearly all her time in the nursery, caring for the young ones. And then, the day arrived when she received her powers. "The rest you already know," Kabu announced. "But there is one other thing I wish to show you."

They were taken to the moment when she gave young Meta the food and left him in the alley. "The little girl you shared your food with, was Sakura's younger sister. That family was Sakura's family," Kabu told Meta Knight, as they viewed that moment again.

"So Heather and Charcoal were able to have more children," Sakura said with a sad smile. "That's good."

Meta Knight jumped in remembrance when he saw the pink baby again. "Kabu, the pink child. Did he go on to become... Kirby?"

Kabu was silent, then said, "We are viewing Sakura's past. Not another's."

Eyes wide, Sakura pleaded, "Please, tell me!"

After several seconds of silence, Kabu sighed. "Yes. Kirby is Sakura's little brother. He stayed young because he accidentally fell into a starship and was put into hypersleep. That is also why he did not seem to age between his shorter visits to Dreamland, before his permanent arrival."

Sakura hadn't listened to anything after the first sentence, she was too busy staring off into space in disbelief. "Kirby... is my little brother. Kirby is my little brother!" She suddenly began to laugh, grabbing Meta Knight's hands and jumping up and down with joy. "I had a mom and a dad, I had sisters. And I still have a little brother!" she squealed. "Kirby is my brother!"

Meta Knight had to laugh, her joy was contagious. "That is truly wonderful," he agreed warmly.

"But wait... I could have met them. I was blocks away from them," she realized, her face falling. "But I didn't."

"They would not have recognized you, Sakura, even if you had met them. None of you would have known who the others really were," he reminded her gently. He could not imagine never having gotten to know his parents, even with their faults.

"Yeah, I guess so," Sakura murmured. She felt like her head was going to explode, what with all the information she had just been given. "So I was originally a Star Warrior, and then a monster-in-training. I wasn't always a Waddle Dee. When the electrified comet hit me, I just remembered my abilities. And then, when I time-traveled, it caused part of Nightmare's spell to wear off."

"I can completely return you to your true form, if you so desire," Kabu told her suddenly. A reflection appeared before them, showing her as pure white again. The reflection first jumped in surprise, then glared out at Sakura, just as Sakura glared at it.

Shaking her head, Sakura declined, "No. This is who I am now. That's Yuki, who I once was. But now, Yuki is a different person. I am Sakura."

Meta Knight nodded at her once, glad she had refused. He just wished she wouldn't seem so disgusted about it.

Trying to sound soothing, Kabu told her, "Actually, Nightmare put you in a very good place. Emptying your mind of the dark magic was only the first step. The Waddle Dee, although at first unsure of you, took you in and raised you well. Their atmosphere of serving and caring for others made you what you are today. This prepared you for your part in the prophecy, and also, for the rest of your life. You are not a monster unless you choose to be, Sakura."

"If I'm not a monster, then why do I find dark magic so interesting? Why is it so hard for me to resist it, sometimes?" she demanded.

Meta Knight frowned. He thought she had never thought of dark magic again since the time she had tried to use it when he was young.

"We all have our weaknesses. None of us can be perfect," Kabu sighed.

"Sure would be nice to be perfect," Sakura muttered bitterly, making Kabu chuckle at her. Realizing how ridiculous that idea was, she had to crack a smile, but Meta Knight frowned deeper. That sounded an awful lot like a dangerous thought he had often had, a long time before. A thought that had led to all sorts of trouble.

Sakura continued, "I guess you're right. So, the Waddle Dee took me in. I grew up serving others and having to be humble, therefore getting rid of any wishes to rule the universe," she laughed a bit, although it was a weak laugh. Then she turned to Meta Knight. "Please don't tell Kirby and Bandana Dee about me being trained to be a monster. I haven't told anyone about your time working for Nightmare."

"Of course, it is yours to tell. Or to keep secret," he shrugged, thinking hard about many things.

"Then I will now return you to the present," Kabu declared simply. "We are finished."

And reality returned around them, like no time had passed at all.


	19. Chapter 4

As soon as they returned, Sakura swung Kirby up into her arms and gave him a huge hug.

"Um, what? Aren't you going to go hear your past or whatever, poyo?" Kirby asked, completely and totally lost.

"I already did. And you're my little brother, Kirby!" Sakura told him, a huge grin on her face.

"Um, yeah. I know that, poyo," Kirby muttered, looking at her like she was crazy.

"No. I mean yes, but, I mean, you're really my little brother. We had the same mom and dad!" she explained, still grinning like crazy.

Kirby stared at her for a second, then finally returned her hug with a joyful laugh. "Yay! I have a real sister, poyo!"

"And I was originally a Star Warrior. Nightmare just disguised me as a Waddle Dee," she told the two little ones.

Bandana Dee's face fell, but no one noticed. _So even Sakura is just another Star Warrior. Me and Sailor Dee are the only cool Waddle Dee after all. And now Kirby gets to really be her brother, and I'm not related to her at all. Well, who cares? Not me. I'm too cool for a dumb old big sister, anyway._

Meanwhile, Meta Knight was frowning, his eyes orange in deep thought. _Sakura may have had some of her questions answered, but now _I_ have new questions and worries._ As they had been watching Sakura's past, he had noticed someone always seemed to be in the shadows, watching over her, like a guardian angel of sorts. He had kept an eye on them whenever they showed up, trying to figure out who they were. Sakura had never noticed their presence, as far as he could tell.

And then, finally, they had stepped out into the light just long enough for him to see a pure-white angel wing attached to a dark-pink masked Star Warrior. _Galacta Knight? Why is he following Sakura?_ he had wondered, walking closer to this part of the memory. Galacta Knight had suddenly moved his deep red eyes to his, which had surprised him.

Meta Knight had reached out towards him, wondering why he was acting like he could see him, when Galacta Knight had snatched his hand out of the air. "You will not interfere, pathetic 'hero,'" Galacta Knight had hissed, then turned his wings into a white cloak and vanished.

_What devious actions are he plotting?_ Meta Knight now wondered. _Why has he followed Sakura? What is he up to?_ He frowned, unsure whether he should tell Sakura or not. _Why is the greatest warrior in the galaxy so interested in her?_

"Popstar to Meta Knight, come in, Meta Knight," he suddenly noticed Sakura chirping at him, waving her hand in front of his face. "Hello, Spacey!"

He jumped and shook himself. "My apologies, I am trying to absorb all of the information we just received. What is it?"

"We need to ask Kabu about what we should really do, remember?" she reminded him, nervous again.

"Ah, yes. Kabu, are you willing to assist us?" he inquired, turning toward the statue.

"I am willing, yes. But the way I am to assist you is not the way you wish me to," Kabu warned them. "I will tell you this: none of the tactics you have used on an enemy before will work on this Returning Darkness."

"But what can we do, poyo?" Kirby questioned urgently.

"There is-"

Sakura angrily interrupted, "If you say, 'there is nothing you can do,' then I swear-"

"There is little you can do," Kabu interrupted her in return. "You, Sakura, are the one who will know what to do."

Turning to her, Meta Knight asked in confusion, "What does he mean?"

"I don't know! I'm just as lost as the rest of you!" Sakura panicked. When the other three looked at her dubiously, she added, "If I had any idea what to do, I would tell you. You guys know that!"

"Dee," Bandana huffed in irritation.

She finally noticed that he seemed to be mad. "Bandana Dee, are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Dwee," Bandana snorted, then backed away when she tried to touch foreheads with him.

"Be a grump-bucket then. Pre-teen," Sakura muttered, slightly offended.

_Grownup bossy-boots,_ he thought to himself as he glared at her, arms crossed.

"Please, poyo! We don't have time for fighting!" Kirby reminded them.

Just then, Magolor appeared out of nowhere. "There you guys are! Couple of Bronto Burts I passed told me I'd find you here!" He flew right past them, having kept his momentum going for too long. "Oh dear," he sighed, turning around and floating back at a slower pace.

"What's going on, 'Lor poyo?" Kirby questioned.

"Lady," Magolor started, automatically turning to Sakura, "I've got some bad news. This black fog appeared at the castle. And when it touched the others, they all started acting sad and hopeless. Like, Sword and Blade started saying they were useless. And the Fluff kid said Patch Land's never gonna be safe again. And the king started saying even driving people nuts isn't fun anymore!"

"Oh, no," Sakura breathed, her eyes huge in fear. "It's gotten to the castle."

"Well, then we can't go back there, poyo," Kirby worried.

"How is it that you are all right, Magolor?" Meta Knight asked, suspiciously, his eyes narrowed.

"Well, I was able to float away before it got to me. But it's some pretty serious stuff, whatever it is. You guys need to stop it! It's not moving towards here yet, but I had to go completely around Whispy Woods. It's covered," Magolor told them anxiously.

"Oh, no," Sakura repeated. "What can we do?"

"Kabu said you would know what to do!" Meta Knight said, turning to her.

"But I don't!" she said, shaking her head in terror.

"You had better figure it out, because I will not let my new home be destroyed by Nightmare!" Meta Knight hissed, his eyes flashing deep red for just a second.

Sakura stared at him. "What was it you were telling me earlier about not letting hate bring me down to Nightmare's level?"

He took a deep breath, knowing she was right, although it seemed like perhaps she had similar problems with controlling her inner darkness. "Maybe so, but you have to figure it out. Please, Sakura."

"Yeah, Sakura, poyo!" Kirby squealed, grabbing her hand. "You have to know what to do! We need you!"

"Dwee," even Bandana Dee agreed urgently.

"They're right, Princess," Magolor told her fearfully.

Sakura stood there for a second, then shouted, "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT TO DO!" She burst into tears and flew off as fast as she could.

"Well, maybe we did put a bit too much pressure on her," Magolor murmured.

"I suppose," Meta Knight sighed. "But, we have no idea what to do to stop it. If she does not know, then I hate to have to say it, but I think Dreamland is doomed. Even my followers have already succumbed to the Returning Darkness, if what you say is true." His face fell, his eyes turned a dark blue. "Poor Sword and Blade. They are not the brightest blades in the army, but they are two good soldiers, nonetheless."

"And poor Fluff, poyo," Kirby mourned.

_And all the other Waddle Dee,_ Bandana thought sadly.

"You know, before Landia attacked my ship and brought me here, I had a fairly quiet, safe life," Magolor complained.

"Shut up, Magolor," Meta Knight glared at him. "No one is at all interested in attending your pity-party."

"Whatever, Meta-Not. What was with your eyes going all red on poor Princess? She's always having your back and stuff like that, and then you go and do something like that," Magolor huffed. "And then, Salesguy says you worked for NME, and you were just a little too quick to deny it."

"It is none of your business, Magolor," Meta Knight growled at him. "You have no right to judge me like that when you were once a villain yourself."

"Well, Meta-Not, you have no right to judge me like that when you were once a badguy yourself," Magolor said right back to him.

Meta Knight opened his mouth to argue, but then realized, Magolor had a point.

"None of us are perfect. Look, I get that you don't like me, and trust me, the feeling is mutual. But that doesn't mean you get to lord it over me that I was a badguy once. You're not perfect either," Magolor ranted at him.

"Maybe so," Meta Knight sighed in exasperation. "But at least I never turned back to the Darkness after I said I had left it the first time."

"There's still time, and the way your eyes went all vampire a few minutes ago, I'm wondering if we're not going to have another major 'friend-turned-foe, oh-my-goodness-I-was-not-expecting-that' moment on our hands," the blue-gold alien sneered in reply.

"I will not return to the Darkness," Meta Knight told him angrily. "You have no right to suggest so."

"And you have no right to keep claiming I'm going to turn around and try to destroy you all!" Magolor turned his words against him again, throwing his hands in the air in agitation.

Meta Knight frowned as he realized Magolor was right, he had been acting a bit hypocritical. "Magolor, I still do not like you. But fine, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Do _not_ make me regret it." He pulled his cloak around himself and warped away, leaving Kirby and Bandana Dee staring at Magolor in silent astonishment.

"I don't know how, poyo, but you're probably going to end up regretting that," Kirby warned. "I mean, Meta Knight really doesn't like it when people make a fool of him."

"I know, I guess I'll just have to hide behind Princess or something. She's actually a really nice Star Warrior, I like her a lot more than Meta-Not."

"She's my sister, poyo!" Kirby told him happily. "And I mean my _real_ sister!"

"Dee," Bandana Dee sighed in annoyance, but no one noticed. He quietly crossed his arms again and pouted to himself.

"Really? I never would've guessed," Magolor murmured in reply to Kirby, then changed the subject. "I just hope those two get back here before the fog stuff does."

It was now nighttime. Sakura was sitting in a tree, her wings wrapped around herself as a form of comfort. "I don't know what to do. I don't know how they can expect me to know what to do!" she suddenly whimpered, turning her wings back into a cape and hiding her face in her hands.

"Sakura? Is that you?" she heard Meta Knight's voice call.

At first, she was silent. But after a moment, she sighed, "Yeah, I'm in the tallest tree in this area."

He suddenly appeared next to her, having apparently spotted her and warped the rest of the way. "Are you all right, my friend?"

"Just peachy," she replied, just a little bit sourly. "I've just had the weight of somehow needing to know how to save the world placed on my shoulders, and my friends didn't exactly jump in to help."

"My apologies," he murmured softly, sitting down next to her on the branch. "You have to understand that for the first time, I have no plan whatsoever. I do not at all enjoy this feeling of unpreparedness."

"Neither do I," she moaned back, hiding her face in her hands again. "I've faced thousands of little monsters, I've faced probably fifty or more mid-bosses. I've taken down a giant lightning monster. But now, I can't stop this fog. And I'm scared, because I don't want to see Dreamland covered in the Returning Darkness. This might not be where I'm from after all, but I've spent most of my life here. I don't want to see Nightmare finally win. I don't want the Darkness to get the last laugh. I don't want to see the last of the Light be extinguished."

"I know," Meta Knight replied softly, then groaned, "I hate feeling helpless."

"What do we do?" she questioned, feeling hopeless. "We can't give up until it's got us, but what can we do?"

"I do not know, Sakura. I do not know. Trust the Star Power, that is all I can think of," he told her, letting her lean against him.

"I'm scared, Meta," she told him quietly. "I'm so scared."

"I am frightened, myself," he admitted in a whisper.

They sat there together, neither speaking, just each worrying. And, although they didn't want to think it, both of them were wondering if this wasn't one of the last times they would sit together without being overpowered by the Returning Darkness.

Sakura fell asleep after quite a while. Meta Knight smiled weakly and tucked his cloak around her, just like he had done so many times before. Once while she was still a child, even. It was strange to know that he had watched her grow up, even if he hadn't realized it was her at the time; and yet, she had watched him through his childhood, too.

"We will figure it out, Sakura. I promise," he whispered to her, then smiled a tiny bit bigger when she stirred in her sleep in reply. "I will not let anyone, Nightmare, Galacta Knight, or anyone else; harm you." Sighing, he leaned against her, soon falling into a light sleep himself.


	20. Chapter 5

Sakura slept deeply, dreaming of calm things. Thankfully, the Returning Darkness didn't interfere with the Fountain of Dreams, at least. She was awoken hours later by a strange humming sound.

"Hmm?" she murmured, blinking her eyes slowly open.

"'Bout time you decided to wake up. You've been sitting there for hours," a voice she didn't recognize huffed at her.

She gasped as she realized she wasn't in a tree anymore. In fact, she didn't seem to be anywhere in Dreamland at all. She was in a metallic, high-tech looking room, sitting in a gray pilot's-style chair. "Wh-where am I? Who are you?"

"Easy there, calm down. You're at the Star Warrior Academy, in one of the teachers' break-rooms. And my name is Popopo," the other explained. Now fully awake, she observed that he looked similar to Kirby, but not exactly.

"Popopo? Well, nice to meet you. Um, how did I end up at the Star Warrior Academy, exactly?" she questioned, completely and totally lost.

"You time-traveled again. I knew you would be showing up soon. In case you're wondering, you're in the past. Way back in the past, just around twenty-five years after the Ancients first formed our worlds," Popopo explained.

"Okay? But why am I here? How do I get back?" she demanded, growing anxious. "I don't want to be stuck in the past for another twelve years!"

"Don't worry, your visit will be a short one," her mysterious companion assured her. "Now, the reason you came here is to learn about the Returning Darkness."

"Oh, really? Okay, tell me everything. How do we get rid of it?" Sakura asked exitedly, leaning forward subconsciously.

"Sorry, Sakura- That is your name, correct?" He waited for her to nod, then continued, "As I was saying, then. Sorry, Sakura, but you're going to have to be patient and listen to the whole story."

"All right. I'm ready to listen," she sighed, sitting back in the chair and trying to calm her nerves.

"All right. The Ancients, the reason they built this world was they wanted a place full of peace and imagination where people could forget their troubles for awhile. But, problem was, nothing can be without evil, not when it's made by mere mortals. So, their beautiful world they formed, Popstar, the crowning achievement of their scientific success, was covered with a thick Darkness made by those who opposed the Ancients. Do you follow so far?" Popopo paused and inquired.

"I think so," Sakura replied.

Popopo nodded. "All right. So, this Darkness made people feel sad, hopeless. All of Popstar's population lived their day-to-day lives in crushing depression. But, the Star Power saw what the Ancients had made, and felt sorry for the beings living in sorrow below. So, he sent a new kind of creature to help them.

"These creatures were similar to some of the species already living on Popstar, but they were quite different at the same time. A whole army of them came, and, using the Light they could make with the help of the Star Power, they healed the world from the Darkness. Each individual's Light was its own color, and each Light had its own special ability. Some could grant bravery, some flight, some honesty, some silence, some growth; all sorts of things. They bravely fought back any source of evil and Darkness, great warriors. They made the Light in their hands, in small soft, swirling spheres. And because they made these tiny 'stars' in their hands, they were known by the Dreamland natives as-"

"Star Warriors," Sakura breathed, her eyes huge in amazement.

"Exactly. You're pretty smart, for some future girl. Anyway, I was the very first Star Warrior. The Ancients were already planning on having a species like us, and I was the first, and they planned for me to be the greatest. But when the Star Power made all the others and sent them in early, the position of the greatest was taken from me by some future upstart, named Kirby.

"Now, I don't mind that too bad. I'm not the one you came to hear about, and a true warrior doesn't care for his own greatness, but for the good of the others. So, anyway. Since then, Star Warriors have mostly quit using the Light, changing instead to using 'Copy Abilities.' New-fangled silliness, I say. They also use swords and things, having nearly abandoned their old peaceful weapon. Within another century or two, the powers of Light will be all but forgotten." Popopo shook his head sadly, then kept on talking, "Forgotten by everyone but the new Heritage clan. Yeah, they've split everybody up into clans and they all follow the code of honor now. Heritage, Knowledge, Chivalry, the list goes on and on. It's ridiculous, in my opinion. Anyway, you know how to use Light, don't you, Sakura?"

She jumped at being suddenly addressed. "Um, yeah. Do you want me to show-"

"Oh, no, that's all right. Just tell me, what is your Light's special power? Mine is I can make things invisible for a very short period of time."

"That's pretty cool. Mine can heal people. But I had always thought I was the only one who had the light," Sakura told him.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. Any being can use the light if they allow the Star Power to work through them. And any Star Warrior can use the Light, they just get a special ability in addition to the light," Popopo huffed. "The reason you know how to when no one else does is you're from Heritage clan. Heritage clan's job is to remember. And maybe that clan stuff's fallen back out of style in your time, I don't know. But that's how you know how to use it when no one else does."

"So, how did they use the light to stop the Darkness?" Sakura begged.

"Well, duh, kiddo. Darkness can't be anywhere there's Light. As soon as you turn on the Light, the Darkness disappears," the strange Star Warrior snorted at her.

"But the sun didn't stop the Returning Darkness... Is that why it's called the Returning Darkness? Because it was there all those years ago, back then as just Darkness?"

"Yes, ma'am. And of course the sun didn't stop the Returning Darkness. I said Light, not light," Popopo rolled his eyes like it was obvious.

"Um, okay," Sakura muttered, still not getting it.

"So, anyway. Now you know how to stop the Returning Darkness. So you can go now, just- hey, I thought your Light gave you time-travel abilities. How else did you get here?" Popopo demanded suddenly.

"No, it's not my light that does it. Someone else's light that's similar in color to mine does, I think," Sakura told him.

"I see. Some sort of shade of pink, time-travel ability... No idea who that would be. Well, hopefully they show up soon and send you back, otherwise you'll be stuck here for quite a while," the older Star Warrior chuckled, not seeming too worried by this.

"But I have to get back, and I have to get back right after I left. Things are really bad, the Returning Darkness could overtake my friends at any time," she began to panic.

"Oh, calm down. You're going to forget this whole conversation ever happened when you go home, anyway, probably," Popopo laughed at her.

"What?! Than what was the point of my coming here? If I'm going to just forget how to defeat the Returning Darkness, which I still don't really understand how to anyway, why did I come?" Sakura stormed. This was one of those times when throwing a spell at someone seemed ever-so-tempting, but she took a deep breath and tried to calm down instead.

Shaking his head at her, Popopo said in a warning tone, "Hey, hey, easy there, Girly. I know just as much as you do, pretty much. I just knew some future girl was going to show up, and it was my job to tell her about Star Warriors and the Darkness. And also that she'd time-traveled before, and that she'd only be here for a very short time."

"Well, then I guess I'll somehow be going home soon," Sakura sighed.

"Well, I know there were several ways your life could have played out, but I'm not sure which way actually did, so I can only guess what you're going back to. So, I'll just say, good luck, Sakura. You seem like a decent kid," Popopo told her with a smile. "May the Star Power guide and protect you."

"You too," Sakura told him with a grin. This guy was a bit weird, but she thought she liked him anyway.

Nodding once, Popopo inquired, "Now that we've got the goodbyes out of the way, would you like a cup of coffee while you're waiting for your friend to show up and time-travel you?"

"What's coffee?" Sakura pondered aloud.

"'What's coffee?' she says. Oh, land, I am _so_ glad I do not live in the future. A place without coffee... How do they survive?" Popopo mourned. "Well, no time like the present to get educated. No time like the past, in your case, I guess."

Laughing, Sakura accepted the brown liquid he gave her in a plain white mug that matched the bleakness of the rest of the room. The two Star Warriors were the only source of color. Yeesh, no wonder everyone avoided training to become warriors later on, if this was what the Academy was like. "Here, add some sugar and some half-and-half. Drinking it by itself the first time would be a dumb idea, you'd hate it forever," the pink Star Warrior chuckled sagely.

"It's not bad, I actually like it," she reassured him after she had hesitantly tried it, going on to drink the rest of the mug as quickly as she could without burning herself. She liked it a lot, actually.

"Not surprised, girls tend to love it," Popopo sighed in reply, sitting back in his chair, which was opposite hers across a gray, metal table.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak again, when a dark pink sphere appeared around her. "Um, bye, Popopo, I guess," she shouted as the tugging feeling appeared. She barely saw him give her a quick salute before she was flying through space and time, yet again. "I sure hope I haven't been gone long when I get back," she murmured in worry, then felt herself doze off again.

"Sakura, wake up! We have to get out of here! Sakura!" Meta Knight shouted at his friend. Gently shaking her, he tried to get her to wake up, but she was unresponsive.

Suddenly, her eyes popped open. "Wh-what? I was having a strange dream... I don't really remember what it was about," she muttered blearily, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"There is no time for that, the Returning Darkness is nearly upon us. We have to return to the others in Kabu Valley, hopefully they are safe. What were we thinking, leaving them for the night with Magolor?" he sighed in irritation at himself. "Now come, we must hurry!"

Still half-sleeping, she half-nodded and spread her wings, taking flight after him. The cool wind rushing by woke her up quickly.

They flew in one direction for a few minutes, then hit a wall of the fog. "Shotzo," Meta Knight hissed. "This way, quickly!"

She followed behind him the other way, only to soon be stopped again. "Oh, no. Meta, I think we're surrounded," she told him, on the verge of panic.

"Calm yourself, Sakura. We will find our way out," he reassured her, but she could see that his eyes were grayish-blue in fear.

"You could warp," she suddenly suggested softly.

"Yes, but you could not. And my cloak is not big enough for the both of us," he disagreed.

"I know. Go on without me," she told him with a weak smile. "It's all right, I'll be fine."

"No, do not be ridiculous. I will not abandon you, not when you have always been there for me... when you could be," he told her, looking at her like she had just suggested something insane. Which maybe she had, but whatever.

"I guess I could try warping again," she murmured. "I've never actually tried, only Bandana has."

"It's worth a try," he agreed, but she could tell by his voice that he didn't think it would work.

She wrapped her cape around herself as best she could, and imagined herself appearing in Kabu Valley. For a second, nothing happened, but then, she felt the tugging feeling she felt when she time-traveled. She appeared in the black place she had learned of her past in yesterday, and then reality suddenly returned, only now she was in Kabu Valley.

Meta Knight appeared right next to her just seconds later, and threw his arms around her. "That was a close one," he nearly laughed out of stress.

She smiled back. "I wonder why Bandana couldn't get it to work, all those years ago?"

Shrugging, Meta Knight replied, "I guess it was because it was not his cape? I do not know. All I do know is, that could have ended a lot worse than it did."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed with a shudder. The Returning Darkness had been getting awful close. She had already been able to feel the first pricks of hopelessness in her heart.

She remembered her dream, now that they were safe again, for now. "It was just a dream," she decided, speaking almost silently to herself. "Coffee... how on earth did my subconscious come up with that?"

"What?" Meta Knight asked her, confused. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, just thinking how ridiculous the dream I had been having was," she shrugged in reply.

"All right, then. But, where are the others?" Meta Knight wondered aloud, sounding anxious.

"Oh, good, there you two are. Took you long enough to get back here. So, Princess, do you know what to do now?" Magolor suddenly appeared from the small room-like area under Kabu and questioned.

"No, I still don't. Sorry, 'Lor," Sakura murmured in worry.

"You will figure it out. I know you will not fail us," Meta Knight comforted her, although she could hear in his voice that he wasn't completely sure of that fact. She didn't really blame him, since it was quickly being revealed that she wasn't anywhere near as perfect as she tried to make herself seem.

Meta Knight went into the statue to speak with the two young ones, but Sakura stayed outside and thought. _I can't remember much of the dream. I remember the coffee, and I remember the guy saying that any Star Warrior could use the light. But it can't have really happened, I mean, I wouldn't have still been asleep in the tree if it had, would've I?_ she wondered, then sighed and shuddered again. _I'm still no closer to knowing how to save the world, and the world's a lot closer to being beyond saving. I just hope the Star Power tells me what to do before it's too late._


	21. Chapter 6

Kirby huffed in annoyance as all of five of the group stood or sat under Kabu. "We can't just stay here, poyo. We have to go do _something_!"

"I know, Kirby. I want to do something, too. But what can we do? Where can we go?" Sakura reminded him with a sigh.

Frowning, Kirby nodded. "I guess so, poyo." He snuggled up closer to his big sis. It was just so cool to know that she was really his sister.

Bandana Dee, meanwhile, glared at them. _Kirby is suddenly the best thing ever, and dumb old Bandana is just chopped liver,_ he thought rather bitterly to himself.

Suddenly, Sakura looked over at him. "Bandana, what's wrong? You've been acting so strange ever since yesterday. You're not jealous, are you, buddy?"

He just wrinkled his face up at her and scooted farther away with an offended, "Dee!"

"Okay, but when you're willing to talk, I'm willing to listen," she told him with a small smile.

"Dwee," he snorted and looked away.

"What's up with him?" Magolor questioned, sitting down on Sakura's other side, a couple of feet away.

"I think he's jealous of Kirby. Kirby's being my real brother really bothers him for some reason," Sakura guessed, then reminded Magolor kindly, "You know, no one's making you stay here, 'Lor. If you don't want to be involved, you don't have to be."

"Well, thanks for offering, but I think where you guys are is probably the safest place to be. So, I'm not going anywhere. Who knows, maybe I'll even end up being helpful," he joked.

"Maybe so," Sakura laughed disbelievingly.

"I highly doubt it," Meta Knight joined the conversation with a derisive snort. He was standing over right inside the door to the small area, his cloak drawn around himself, gazing thoughtfully out at the valley.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sakura asked him. "I mean, what do _you_ think we should do?"

He was silent for a moment, then replied, taking one glove out of his cloak and pointing out the door, "I think you should come and wonder with me about what on Popstar Yin-Yarn is up to over there."

"What in Dreamland?" Sakura muttered in surprise, quickly hopping up and joining him.

Sure enough, Yin-Yarn was out at the edge of the valley, gray and mopey. "Well, he doesn't look too good, does he, Princess?" Magolor giggled, floating up so he could see over Meta Knight and Sakura. "Wonder if he still does the whole yarn-pun thing?"

They didn't have to wonder long, as moments later, Yin-Yarn suddenly lamented, "Oh, it's as if all the ambition has been combed out of me!"

"Welp, now we know," Magolor shrugged, still chortling gleefully.

"That's just sad," Sakura murmured, shaking her head. "Even bumbling badguys shouldn't have to feel hopeless."

"I have to agree with Magolor, much as it infinitely pains me to say that. It is good to see a villain having to suffer along with everyone else occasionally, like when the king's monsters turned on him," Meta Knight told her with a hint of satisfaction in his otherwise-stoic voice.

"_Guys_," Sakura huffed with a roll of her eyes. "No compassion whatsoever. I'm going to talk to him."

"Your funeral, Princess," Magolor shuddered.

She made a face at him and took off, flying over to Yin-Yarn in a matter of seconds. "Ah, I see you made it out of Patch Land. I'm not surprised, I'm a lousy villain. A few skeins short of a whole scarf, if you know what I mean," Yin-Yarn sighed when she landed close to him.

"What happened to you?" Sakura asked kindly, but kept her distance.

"Well, I pulled back all the yarn, got rid of all the yarn monsters, stuff like that; because I wanted to fool DeDeDumb into thinking it was his castle again, just so I could laugh at him. But then, I thought it would be even funnier if I disappeared and then returned, so I went and hid in Whispy Woods. But then this fog got to me, and I've been stuck in it for days. And I don't want to be supreme ruler of Dreamland anymore, I don't want to be anything. I just want to lie down and never knit again. Oh, what a world!" Yin-Yarn sobbed, flopping down onto the ground in a comical way.

Sakura heard several snickers coming from Kabu's vicinity. It _was_ kind of funny, and it was the sort of poetic justice she usually loved, but it was still sad. "You sure must be upset if you're not even interested in taking over Dreamland," she commented.

"Oh, I never knew what I was going to do with it, anyway," Yin-Yarn moaned, crying little bead-tears.

"Well, after some time here in the sunlight, I'm sure you'll feel better," Sakura reassured him, then frowned. "How far out from here did you leave the fog?"

"Oh, just about fifteen minutes ago, it's only coming this way very slowly," he sniffled, already starting to feel better.

"Oh, dear," Sakura sighed, sitting down and putting her face in her hands. "We're all doomed. We're all _so_ doomed."

"That doesn't sound like regular hero talk at all. What's wrong with you? Aren't you going to go be a needle in this fog's side?" Yin-Yarn sneered. "That's what you do to all the other badguys, isn't it?"

"Well, this fog isn't really a badguy. It's just bad. And trust me, I would be doing something to stop it, if I knew something to do to stop it," Sakura told him shortly.

"Well, you'll have something to keep you busy," he laughed evilly, his color having finally started returning. "Won't you have some fun fighting me?" Yin-Yarn suddenly brought out his knitting needles, which were now dark.

"Oh, yippee. Let me guess, they've been affected by the Returning Darkness to have extra powers now?" Sakura guessed anxiously.

"You got it," Yin-Yarn snickered. "Let's get started on this project, shall we?" He sent out a dark tornado, straight towards her.

"Yikes!" Sakura shouted, jumping out of the way. Seconds later, she was joined by Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandana Dee.

Kirby turned to inhale the tornado, but Sakura shook her head at him. "It's dark, it's probably not safe!" she warned him. She, of all people, should know about the dangers of dark cloud-like substances. Last thing they needed right now was Kirby getting turned into a Yarn Doo, or something.

Nodding, he inhaled some rocks instead. "Hai-yah! Stone!" he shouted, turning into a rock right over Yin-Yarn's head.

Yin-Yarn warped out of the way. "That is new," Meta Knight murmured in nervous surprise. "What other new tricks does he have up his sleeve? Oh, and the fabric pun was not intended."

"Sure it wasn't," Sakura laughed, then frowned. "I don't know, because I won't be able to tell what's new and what's not. I've never really fought him before."

"Well, I have watched him fight Kirby and Prince Fluff, and I have been forced to fight _for_ him before, but I have never fought him myself, either," Meta Knight explained.

"Yeah, Meta Knight was actually a harder boss than Yin-Yarn, poyo," Kirby laughed as he tried again to pound Yin-Yarn into the ground.

"He was not! The only reason you had no trouble with me is you cheated and used a Metamortex, which said knight gave you!" Yin-Yarn disagreed, offended, warping away and reappearing right behind Sakura and Meta Knight. "Boo!"

The two spun around, but not before Yin-Yarn sent another tornado at them. They made it out of the tornado rather quickly, but not before the tornado took her cape and his cloak away from them and to Yin-Yarn.

"Ow," Sakura moaned, rubbing her head.

"Are you all right?" Meta Knight asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I think so. But he's got the Dimensional Cloak and Cape!" she yelped as the sorcerer seemed to inspect the items, then put them in a spot where they couldn't get to them until they had defeated him.

"And I'm not giving them back. Let's see if you can beat me now without your magic toys!" Yin-Yarn cackled.

Sakura ran at him, swinging at him with the Cherry Star Sword. He warped away, then pouted, "Why aren't you scared?"

"I spent several years without my cape, and I only recently got it back. I can fight without it just fine," she smirked.

"And I can as well, even if I am not used to this," Meta Knight agreed as he sent a Sword Beam at the stringy sorcerer.

Bandana Dee snuck in out of nowhere and managed to pin Yin-Yarn to the ground with his spear. "I can still warp, you know," Yin-Yarn sneered at the young Waddle Dee, reappearing behind him and sending a tornado at him, too.

Bandana avoided it, grabbing his spear back in the process. "Nice try, Bandana!" Sakura shouted to him encouragingly. He just narrowed his eyes at her and stuck his nose in the air.

This went on for quite awhile. They couldn't get any strikes in against Yin-Yarn, and he could hardly get any attacks to hit them, either. But, slowly but surely, it began to look like the sorcerer was going to win.

Kirby had given up using Stone, and was now floating above, being their eye in the sky. "The Returning Darkness is starting to get close, poyo," he worried urgently.

"This isn't good at all," Sakura said weakly. Most of the attacks that had actually made it to one of them had hit her, and she was running out of energy.

"Do not give up hope yet, Sakura," Meta Knight told her gently. "Are you all right? Do you need to stop fighting for awhile?"

"No. I'm not quitting," Sakura huffed, offended.

Yin-Yarn took advantage of their pause to send a tornado towards them. It only got Sakura, but it carried her out over the cliffs surrounding the valley. When it died out, she was left unconscious in midair, above a deep chasm.

Without thinking, Bandana Dee shouted, "Dwee!" His shout woke her up, but she was quickly falling. And without her cape, she had no way to fly. She could have floated, but she was panicking too much to remember.

He reached out over the chasm with his spear, and she was able to catch it before she fell further. "Bandana, I-" she started as he pulled her back onto land, but he turned from her before she could finish.

_Nobody does that to my sister, you bozo,_ Bandana thought at Yin-Yarn, who of course had no way of hearing him. The young Waddle Dee rushed at the sorcerer, knocking one of the villain's knitting needles from his hands with his spear.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Yin-Yarn shrieked angrily as Bandana held it in a such a way as it was obvious he was going to break it.

The little Waddle Dee gave him a look which clearly stated, "Oh, yeah? Just watch me," and he snapped it in half.

"Why didn't me and Fluff think of doing that, poyo?" Kirby wondered aloud.

Bandana Dee wasn't finished yet. Yin-Yarn rushed at him angrily, but Bandana used his spear to pin him to the ground just long enough to take his other knitting needle and snap it in half, too.

"Nyaaaaaaaargh! Without my needles, I am nothing! Just a useless ball of yarn, with no purpose!" Yin-Yarn mourned as, indeed, he turned into nothing but a pile of string and buttons.

"Dee! Dee dwee!" Bandana shouted at the pile with a satisfied nod.

"Bandana! You did it! You're the hero, Hero Dee," Sakura laughed as she ran over to him. "Thank you for saving me!"

Bandana touched his forehead to hers. "Well, of course I saved you," he huffed, but then his face crumpled. "You're my sister, even if I'm not your brother anymore," he sniffled mentally.

"Oh, Bandana," Sakura sighed with a soft smile as she pulled him into her arms. Mentally, she asked him, "How could you _not_ be my brother?"

"Well, Kirby really _is_ your brother. And since you were never really a Waddle Dee, we don't even have that in common," he cried, hating himself for being all dumb and emotional.

"You probably don't remember, and the only way I can is because I saw it the other day. But the Birthday when you came, the first thing you did after you opened your eyes was waddle over to me and take my hand. Waddle Dee don't usually show attachment to others like that, but from the beginning, I was your favorite. You followed me everywhere, which is part of the reason I started working in the nursery, so you wouldn't get lost," she told him, still mentally, love in her eyes. "Kirby and I may be siblings by blood, but you've been my little brother your whole life. I've known you much longer than I've known Kirby. And, maybe I'm not really a Waddle Dee, but I thought I was one for most of my life. And I think I really was a Waddle Dee for at least a while, because why else am I still able to talk to you like this?"

"I guess so. But all of you guys are Star Warriors. I'm just a dumb old Waddle Dee. I can't be special like you guys," Bandana murmured sadly.

"That's not true. Sure, you're not a Star Warrior, but you're the one and only Hero Dee. If that's not special, I don't know what is," she said to him in her mind. "No matter what, you're my little brother. I love you, Bandana, and just because I also love Kirby doesn't mean you're not special or important. And I'll tell you something Meta Knight told me: Everyone, every single person, is important."

He 'smiled' a little. "You know, you're actually pretty cool, Sis."

She laughed, then said aloud, "And you're _really_ cool, Bro."

"What was that about, poyo?" Kirby asked as the other two joined him and Meta Knight, (who had regained his cloak,) over where they had been watching from a distance.

"It's private Waddle Dee and former Waddle Dee business, right, Bandana?" Sakura asked with a wink.

"Dwee," he nodded, still 'smiling.'

"Well, Bandana Dee, you are the hero of the day. I give you my thanks for saving Sakura, and for defeating Yin-Yarn," Meta Knight told him, then turned to Sakura. "I am assuming that you will want this back," he added, sounding mildly amused, as he handed her cape to her.

"Thanks, I hadn't even thought to go looking for it yet," Sakura laughed as she put it back on, then grew serious. "We may have dealt with Yin-Yarn, but I'm thinking he's the lesser of the two evils we have to face."

"I definitely agree, my friend. Wait, where did Magolor get off to?" Meta Knight suddenly wondered suspiciously.

"I'm still here, under the statue," a pip-squeaky voice answered him. "Staying safe, staying uninvolved, all that."

"So now what do we do?" Sakura worried as the fog began to fill the valley. Only a small space of the sky above was still visible, and it was being quickly covered as well.

"Have you figured out what to do yet, poyo?" Kirby questioned urgently.

Sakura shook her head slowly. "No, I haven't."

Meta Knight turned towards the statue. "Kabu, what should we do?" he asked, his voice full of fear as the heroes pressed close together, all four back-to-back.

"Sakura will know what to do," the statue repeated, then went silent again, leaving the four heroes surrounded by the fog on all but one side, and that way out was blocked by a statue.

"I'm really scared, Princess," Magolor squeaked as he came and joined them, standing close to Sakura. "I really don't know how you all are going to get us out of this one."

"Neither do I," Sakura whispered, terrified, as the Returning Darkness came ever closer.


	22. Chapter 7

The Returning Darkness crept ever closer and closer. It got to Magolor first, since he was the farthest out. He stood there, just fine for a minute, but then he began to turn gray. "I'm never going to get home. Who am I kidding, anyway? It's all hopeless, worthless, all that."

Seconds later, Kirby and Bandana Dee began to droop too. "I'm not really that big of a hero, poyo. I can't even beat a stupid fog," Kirby mourned.

"Dee," Bandana agreed as he thought, _I'm just a Waddle Dee. Waddle Dee can't be heroes._

"Don't give up hope, guys," Sakura whimpered as the sorrow filled her as well.

Meta Knight didn't say anything, but his eyes slowly turned a deep blue. _So, I will go the way all my allies went before me,_ he thought sadly. _I guess this is essentially the end, for a life filled with sorrow cannot really be called a life._ Suddenly, though, he had a bit of an idea. "Warp," he told Sakura softly.

"To where? All of Dreamland is covered now," she reminded him, her eyes filled with tears.

"To the middle place, the dark place. We can think there," he murmured.

"Think what? There's nothing we can do. It's over, Meta," she whimpered as she tried to stay strong, all of her color gone. "The Darkness has covered everything. There is no hope."

"Just do as I say," he ordered.

Nodding, she did so, appearing in the dark place. But somehow, the Returning Darkness came with her. She backed away from it as quick as she could, then backed right into something, which jumped just as much as she did when they touched. "Meta!" she yelped in fear.

"Calm yourself, it is just I," he assured her, reaching behind him, grabbing her hand, and giving it a quick squeeze.

"But the Darkness came with us. What can we do?" she sighed morosely.

"I do not know. I had hoped that maybe here, it would not come. But I was wrong," Meta Knight replied, as the last of his color faded out too. "All of the Light is gone now, it is over."

"Not all of the Light is gone, we're still here," she reminded him, as a whisper of the Star Power in her heart gave her the tiniest bit of hope.

"Yes, but we are just two small sparks of Light, Sakura," he sighed, bowing his head in hopelessness.

She turned around and looked at him. "Maybe so, but if you get enough sparks together, you have a fire. The world is full of evil and Darkness, and the Light is few. But Light is stronger than Darkness. With just a little bit of Light, the Darkness is sent away. Anywhere there is Light, there can't be Darkness." Her color slowly started to return.

"But as I said, we are just two sparks, and quickly-fading ones at that. What is your plan?" Meta Knight asked weakly, still not looking at her.

"When you're in a dark room, what do you do?" she asked him, a trace of excitement in her voice.

He finally looked up at her. "You... turn on the light?" he guessed, wondering where she was going.

"Exactly," she smiled weakly, beginning to form light in her hands.

"But it's just a little bit of light, how will it help?" he moped.

"It's not just light, this is the Light. Help me, Meta," she pleaded, glancing up from her Light just long enough to look at him.

"What do you mean?" he questioned in confusion, as the presence of the Light brought some of his color back. "I cannot make light in my hands, you are the only who can."

"What does it look like?" she looked straight at him.

"What do you mean?"

"What does my Light look like?" she repeated.

"Like a tiny star, maybe?" he guessed, then it hit him. "Are you telling me all Star Warriors can make light like this?"

"It's not just light, it's the Light!" she laughed, nodding at him. "It's _why_ we're called Star Warriors! We originally fought with the Light as our only weapon! Now please, help!"

After another moment's hesitation, he put his hands into her Light as it grew bigger. He felt a sense of healing flow through him, much stronger than it had ever felt before. His color completely returned as the Light washed through him. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate.

"That's it, Meta! You're doing it!" she laughed again, and his eyes flew open. Sure enough, there was dark blue light swirling among the pink.

He grinned underneath his mask. He had to admit, this was pretty amazing. "But what can we do with just this much light?" he suddenly faded a little bit.

"We can bring Kirby back and add his Light to it," she told him. "And maybe Prince Fluff too, since he's a Star Warrior, of sorts. And although the others can't use the Light, they can still use light, if they are willing."

"I am confused," Meta Knight told her, shaking his head, his eyes dark green.

"The Light, as opposed to light. You'll figure it out," she grinned at him as the Light began to surround them. "Now come on, we have to warp back to Kabu Valley."

He nodded once, and they reappeared back in reality. The three they had left behind were still sitting there, covered with the fog. "Kirby!" Meta Knight shouted.

"Magolor! Bandana!" Sakura added.

"Poyo?" Kirby asked weakly. The other two barely lifted their eyes.

"Kirby! You have to help!" Sakura told him as the sphere surrounded those three as well, their color starting to return.

"What's going on, Lady?" Magolor asked wearily.

"We need Kirby to add his Light, and if you can, we need you two to add your light, too," Sakura told them urgently. "Then we'll return to the castle."

Kirby frowned. "But I can't make Light."

"You _can_, Kirby. I know, I was surprised, too," Meta Knight assured him.

Kirby sighed. "I'll try, poyo." He closed his eyes and concentrated, and moments later, a bright, happy Maxim Tomato-red began to add itself to the mix.

"That's it! Good job, Kirby!" Sakura laughed joyfully.

"But what will we do when we have added everyone's light?" Meta Knight asked her, still confused.

"You'll see, Meta. Be patient, even if that never has been your strong suit," she teased him.

He smiled back, although she couldn't see it. "Very well. I trust you, Sakura."

"Thanks. That means a lot," she replied sincerely.

Bandana Dee suddenly added a red-orange light to the mix as he touched his forehead to Sakura's. "I don't think it has special powers like yours does, but maybe it'll help. A little, anyway," he told her with a 'smile.'

"It will help a lot, Hero Dee. Good job, Bandana," she praised him with a loving smile.

"Dwee!" he replied proudly.

"To the castle!" Meta Knight ordered.

"Hang on, Meta-Not, you'll be needing this." Magolor added a bright gold light to the ever-growing sphere. "Told ya I could be helpful."

"I knew you would help, 'Lor," Sakura reassured him. "And Meta Bozo did too, even if he won't admit it."

Ignoring her, Meta Knight again ordered, "To the castle!" This time, all five of our heroes took off, the Light surrounding them.

As they flew, all the Cappies and Bronto Burts and everything else below seemed to perk up some.

"Look!" one Cappy shouted. "It's the Star Warriors, the ones in the old stories!"

"So, does this mean the Darkness in the stories was real, too?" another replied in awe.

"I think so," the first replied. "The stories say we were covered in Darkness, but the first Star Warriors came and saved us, using the Light."

"The Light they got from the... Star Power?" the Mayor tried to remember as he joined the conversation. "I'm sorry, I haven't heard that story since I was just a small boy."

"So, it's all true?" Chief Borun Bookum chortled. "Old Curio's not quite as much of a quack as we laugh at him for being."

"Hey," Curio huffed as he walked over and joined the group.

"I think it's pretty," little Honey put in her two cents' worth.

"Whatever," Spikehead and Iro shrugged in unison.

Up above, Sakura continued to laugh with joy as the Light carried them to the castle. "We had never really lost all hope! I just had to remember to turn on the Light!"

Meta Knight smiled warmly to himself, feeling a bit silly for having ever doubted her. Kirby giggled, and Bandana entertained himself by 'swimming' around through the sphere.

Upon their arrival in the castle, the first of their allies they found was Sword and Blade. "Mety-Knight? We're sorry. We know we're not that smart, and-"

"Do not listen to the Darkness, my friends. If you can add light to what we have here, we would much appreciate it," Meta Knight requested gently.

"Well, I guess we can give it a go," Sword shrugged.

"Try warggen," Blade nodded.

After a minute, a dark green joined the other colors, quickly followed by an aqua blue. "Well done, Sword and Blade," Meta Knight congratulated them as those two joined the group.

"Well, of course we could help. We're Meta Knight's followers," Sword shrugged, having regained his old confidence.

"Obviously harf derven," Blade snorted, like there was never any doubt.

Fluff soon saw them. "Fluff, kiddo, can you add your Light?" Sakura asked with a grin.

Fluff smiled weakly. "Anything for you, Princess Sakura." And a light green soon appeared among the other colors.

"Not. A. PRINCESS!" Sakura groaned, and the rest of the group laughed at her. "It's not funny!"

"But it is," Meta Knight disagreed, smirking to himself.

Making a face at him, she suddenly wondered, "What special powers do you guys' Lights have? Yours, Kirby's, and Fluff's, I mean."

Nodding once, Meta Knight told her, "We can find that out some other time. In the meantime, I think we still need-"

"Us!" DeDeDe and Escargoon cheered from underneath them all, having appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, please, not those two," Sakura groaned, facepalming.

"The enemy of our enemy is our friend," Meta Knight reminded her.

"All right, off I go to help the Returning Darkness!" Sakura said in faux-excitement.

Giving her a disapproving look, Meta Knight said in a warning tone, "Sakura..."

Groaning, Sakura reluctantly agreed with an, "Ugh. Fine!"

The two royal stooges added their lights. Escargoon's addition was a greenish-gray, and DeDeDe's was orange like the symbol on the back of his robes. "Not bad, for an old fat guy," Escargoon snickered.

"You're not fat, little buddy," DeDeDe grinned at the snail.

Cackling, Escargoon clarified, "Oh, I meant you, not me, Your Highness."

"Shut it, bozos," Sakura glared at them.

"What next?" Meta Knight questioned her, and everyone turned to look at her.

Sakura took a deep breath, not enjoying being put into the position of leader at all. She was much better at following bravely than she was at leading. "Well, I was hoping when we had all the colors, they would blend together into pure starlight. But..." she started, but was cut off as the sphere deposited them down on the ground.

All the colors swirled together into one pure, blindingly bright light, just as Sakura had predicted. All ten of them had to shield their eyes as the light floated out the nearest window.

Sakura ran out onto the balcony outside, closely followed by her friends. The Light hung in the sky, shining down on the land and banishing the Darkness. "Just light wouldn't end it, but the Light could," she whispered, eyes huge in wonder. "Popopo was right, after all." Frowning, she then pondered aloud, "So, does that mean coffee is real?"

"Did you just say coffee again? Why have you been mentioning coffee at such random times lately? It is unlike you to make such irrelevant comments," Meta Knight looked at her incredulously.

"So coffee _is_ real?" she asked in surprise, tilting her head to one side in a Waddle Dee-like way, completely sub-consciously.

Laughing, he shook his head and stood close to her. Softly, he told her, "Sakura, you are definitely a unique creature. I am glad to call you my friend." She smiled brightly in reply.

The Light remained in the sky all night that night, meaning that there was never really a night at all. When the sun came up the next morning while the Light faded out, a free, safe Dreamland lay beneath. The Returning Darkness was gone, hopefully for good.

"That is the end, Nightmare," Meta Knight whispered softly, a quiet smile on his face under his mask as he watched the world outside through a window. "You will never harm me or those I care for again." Then he suddenly noticed... He couldn't feel the monster inside him anymore. Frowning, he searched for it, but it was gone.

Sakura was sleeping over in a window seat in the corner of the secret library. He was in there because he had taken advantage of the Light and studied all night. "Sakura, wake up!" he now shook her joyfully.

"Mm? What is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"The monster within me! It has vanished!" he told her, hardly able to contain his excitement.

"What do you mean? Where did it go?" she yawned, still half-asleep. Waking up quickly was not something she was good at. Remember the first day of her training, when she fell right out of the bookshelf? Yeah, that was about as much grace as she ever had when just waking up.

He thought a moment, then smiled to himself. "Your Light, yesterday. It was stronger than ever before. When I put my hands in your Light yesterday to help, it washed the monster away."

Sakura smiled sleepily. "That's nice," she murmured blearily, then went back to sleep.

He chuckled and turned to leave her, then noticed a pure-white angel wing disappear behind a bookshelf. "Galacta Knight," he murmured, eyes narrowed. He warped to where he had seen the wing at, finding the rest of the strange Star Warrior there. But he seemed weak, and faded.

"What do you want with me, Meta Knight?" he hissed, glaring at the other.

"Why are you here? Why have you followed Sakura?" Meta Knight demanded, drawing Galaxia.

"I have no obligation to tell you. I owe you nothing," Galacta Knight spat at him.

"She is my friend, I have a right to know why you have followed her," the dark blue Star Warrior muttered to the other.

"She is my friend, as well," Galacta Knight chortled at him darkly.

"I have defeated you before, Galacta Knight. I can do it again. You may call yourself the greatest warrior in the galaxy, but even a child has defeated you before."

Galacta Knight shook his head in faux-sympathy. "Oh, you are so slow to figure things out, little Meta. The only reason I exist is _I_ defeated _you_."

Frowning to himself, Meta Knight demanded, "What in Dreamland are you talking about, you foul creature?"

"The deep, dark red eyes. The fact that I have horns. The fact that I am one of the deepest evils, so deeply evil that I had to be locked away, and yet; I am disguised as the highest good," Galacta Knight said with a sort of evil pleasure. "Goody-two-shoes, weak, adorably heroic, little Meta Knight. I am you, or what you became." The other Star Warrior laughed again, and it was absolutely chilling. He then took a deep breath and told Meta Knight softly, his deep, dark red eyes boring into the other's,

"I am you, as a monster."

"No," Meta Knight gasped, unwilling to believe it was true. "That does not make any sense."

"Sure it does, little hero," Galacta Knight laughed weakly, still fading. "_I_ am your monster. When you stopped resisting, I took over."

"I do not believe it. I will not believe it," our hero shook his head forcefully.

"Come with me to Kabu. He will show you the truth. Unless you're too cowardly," the dark pink Star Warrior sneered.

Narrowing his eyes, Meta Knight nodded once. "Very well. Kabu does not lie, we will see what he says on the matter. But I am positive what you say will be shown to be a lie."

Galacta Knight chuckled darkly. "You can dream, little Meta."

Ignoring him, Meta Knight warped to Kabu, and was joined moments later by his evil companion. "Kabu, will you show us how Galacta Knight came to be?" he demanded.

"Show him, Kabu. Show him my origin," Galacta Knight hissed.

"Very well," Kabu agreed. And the two were quickly brought to the middle, dark place.

A memory appeared around them, just like when they had viewed Sakura's past. Meta Knight gasped as the moment where he lunged at Sakura (then Blossom) played again. But this time, it went differently.

He still didn't harm Sakura, but instead of staying and fighting the Darkness, he turned and flew away. "Get out of me," he hissed at the monster inside him. "Leave me; I no longer want you within me."

His eyes suddenly turned a deep, dark red. "I will not leave you. I will never leave you," Galacta Knight's voice growled. "You may have conquered me for a moment, but this is the end. You will _not_ stand in my way."

The transformation into a monster completed itself, leaving Galacta Knight standing there, laughing evilly, and Meta was no more.

"But that is not the way things happened," Meta Knight shouted angrily, turning on his old monster incarnate.

"In this reality, that is true. But there are countless realities, and each one goes differently. In my reality, this is what happened." Galacta Knight closed his eyes and sighed. "Kabu, show him the rest of my story."

"Very well," Kabu simply said again.

An injured Galacta Knight was shown lying on the ground, unconscious. Blossom suddenly appeared. "Who's this?" she gasped, gently trying to wake him. When he didn't, she sighed. Whispering, she decided, "Whoever it is, I should help them."

They skipped forward, to see her and Galacta Knight speaking. "You do not understand. Meta is no more. I am a completely different entity. Why do you feel sympathy for one such as I?"

Glaring at him angrily, she told him, "Because I believe that Meta is still in there, somewhere. And I also believe that eventually, he will conquer you and return."

"You believe a fairytale, it will never happen," he hissed, raising his lance, but yet again unable to finish her off, he flew away again.

The present Galacta Knight snorted in disgust. "There is no room in my heart for love, or care, or any other useless emotion, but I could never bring myself to harm her. She was only ever kind to me, even as I helped Nightmare destroy her world. But, eventually, even her love for your memory faded away."

Time skipped again, and now they were in a world full of Darkness. "Blossom. Let me use my powers, I can take you to another time. A time before Nightmare destroyed everything," Galacta Knight offered, sounding almost kind.

A gray Blossom shook her head, deeply sad and angry, her eyes glowing a dull red. That was strange, Meta Knight had never seen her do anything like that before. "No. I will never listen to you again, I will never help you again. You have helped Nightmare destroy the universe. Meta really is no more, I should not have assisted you. You have hurt me more I can bear, Galacta Knight. I hope you are happy."

The memory disappeared from around them. "So, you destroyed me, and then a whole universe. Why are you here?" Meta Knight asked him, feeling nothing but contempt and disgust for the one he spoke to.

"Because..." Galacta Knight sighed and bowed his head. "Because, she cared for me, but all I ever did was hurt her. I asked a local Kabu what I could possibly do to fix things. He said that if I came to another universe, and made sure that I would never exist there, then I would fade out of existence. And if I never existed, then I will not have existed in that universe, either. Everything will be repaired, Nightmare will never have won." His voice grew weak. "And now that your monster is gone, there is no chance of my ever existing in this universe. I did everything it took to ensure this. It was I that used my powers to move Sakura through time. And now, I am fading away. The other reality will be healed, and I can go in peace. Who knows? Maybe in some universe, I am my own being, apart from you. Maybe, somewhere, I am a hero."

Meta Knight had lowered his sword and grown less and less angry during Galacta Knight's speech. Now, he lifted his sword so it began to glow, in a Star Warrior's final salute. "An end worthy of a true warrior," he solemnly said, just as he had said of or to his allies so many times before.

"Thank you," Galacta Knight whispered, and faded away.

After sheathing his sword, Meta Knight drew his cloak around himself and stood there, thinking hard. "Should I tell Sakura?... No, she never noticed his existence. It would just depress her needlessly."

Sighing, Meta Knight warped back to the secret library. Like always, no time had passed. Sakura was still sound asleep in the window seat, her curtain-blanket wrapped around herself like a second cape.

She was so pretty when she was asleep, he observed for the umpteenth time. He had mostly always just thought of her as a friend, the whole time he had known her in her Star Warrior form; but there were many times when he would look at her and think, _Maybe someday_. This was one of those times.

With a sigh, he hopped up onto the window seat beside her and slid his mask partway up, gently kissing her on the forehead. "Sleep well, Sakura," he whispered fondly, then turned around with a swish of his cloak and walked away, leaving the secret library.

Sakura stirred slightly in her sleep and smiled just a little, not knowing at all what had just happened.


	23. Epilogue

_Hey, Sakura here, and that's the end of this chapter of our stories. I wrote it this time around, except for the last chapter. That one, Meta wrote. And I don't know what it says, because he won't let me read it._

_Kirby, Fluff, and Bandana Dee enjoyed some time hanging out together in a safe Dreamland before Fluff went home. Since we had defeated Yin-Yarn, Patch Land was back to normal._

_During this time, we tested out Meta's, Kirby's, and Fluff's Lights to see what powers they had. This is how it went:_

"Do I really have to go first?" Meta Knight sighed.

"Yes, you do. Now, come on. I agreed to be a guinea pig, don't keep me waiting," Sakura huffed.

"Very well." He formed a tiny sphere of dark-blue Light, which he let absorb into her.

Sakura suddenly grinned and drew her sword. "Come, men! We are Star Warriors! We battle everything that is evil or Dark! With the Star Power to guide us and our swords shining, we-" suddenly, she returned to normal and blushed in embarrassment. "So, your Light grants ludicrous courage. I can see how that might come in handy."

"Me next," Fluff grinned, making a itty-bitty sphere of light-green Light and touching it to her.

She seemed normal for a moment, then she crossed her arms and stood tall. "All right, you bozos. This doesn't look like an appropriate Star Warrior barracks at all. Pinky, you dust. Prince, you help Bandana pick things up. Masked Guy, you and I will wash the windows and-" suddenly she blushed again. "So, Fluff. Yours grants leadership. This is so embarrassing, why did I agree to this?"

"My turn!" Kirby giggled.

"Do it to Meta Knight, I'm done!" Sakura laughed mischievously, turning Kirby toward Meta Knight at the last moment.

As the red Light absorbed into him, Meta Knight huffed to Sakura, "That was not very kind of you. However, I will freely admit that I have done worse before. Kirby, my friend," he suddenly continued, turning to the young Star Warrior, "You are a brave hero, and I am proud to call you my ally and occasional rival. Fluff, I do not know you well, and at times you can be quite a nuisance, but I am sure you will grow up into a great Star Warrior. Bandana Dee, you are the bravest Waddle Dee who is truly a Waddle Dee that I have ever met, next to Sailor Dee, of course. And Sakura, you are my closest friend, and-" suddenly he stopped speaking. Blushing in embarassment under his mask, he drew his cloak around himself to hide, just like he had done as a child on the day he received his name.

"So, Kirby's Light makes the recipient honest. I like that," Sakura laughed with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up," Meta Knight murmured, glaring at her out of the corner of his cloak.

_And that's how that went. We went back to Bubbly Clouds and repaired the Lor Starcutter, although Meta Knight, Sword, and Blade were not very willing to help. I manged to convince them that since 'Lor saved my life twice and also helped in the end, he had earned our helping him get home._

_It was kind of sad when he left, he was a good guy. Here's how that went:_

"Well, Princess. I guess this is goodbye, for now," Magolor gave Sakura a quick hug while Meta Knight watched in annoyance, eager for him to leave.

"Yeah. You'll come visit sometime, though, won't you?" Sakura asked, a little bit sad.

"Well, of course. And I'm still planning on taking you to see the Snow Moon, someday. I still say you would love it," 'Lor told her excitedly.

"All right. Take care of yourself," she smiled softly.

"You too. And keep an eye on Meta-Not, too," he laughed. "Catch ya later, alligator, all that."

"After awhile, crocodile, all that," Sakura giggled in reply.

"Good riddance," Meta Knight huffed as the Lor Starcutter flew away. "I hope that is the last time I see that stupid ship."

"Is someone jealous of someone else's ship? Maybe because it didn't fall to pieces like someone else's did?" she teased him.

"Oh, shut up. Why in Dreamland would I be jealous? The Battleship Halberd has been through much worse than the Lor Starcutter has ever come close to experiencing," he humphed in offense, then had to chuckle quietly as she laughed at him. "Maybe Magolor is not truly a villain after all," he admitted, but then grew sour again. "But I still do not like him." Which, of course, made Sakura laugh at him even harder.

_Dedede and Escargoon are back to being their usual jerk selves, and the Waddle Dee seem happy that me and Bandana Dee made it back safely. They gave us all a heroes' welcome, there was a feast when we got back. Meta and I had to laugh, Magolor ended up coming to the castle for supper after all. And I didn't even have to remind the kitchen to use the fine china._

_Kirby, Bandana, and I have started reading together every night again, and I think Meta Knight listens sometimes, too, although he's always off hiding somewhere when he does. But that's your typical Meta Knight, I of all people should know._

_And Meta Knight is, of course, the same as always. He still won't tell me where he disappeared off to that day after we got rid of the Returning Darkness, but he says it's not important anyway. It's okay, I trust him. Like I said at the beginning, he's still a great and brave knight. But although it's cloaked in mystery for some people, I know his past. And he knows mine. It's good to have someone who knows me like that, and I know he is glad to have someone who knows him. I don't know all that much about his time in the war, but I know if he ever decides he wants me to know about it, then he'll tell me then._

_And me? I'm happier than I ever have been before. I'm not a servant anymore, I'm with my best friend and my 'family,' and we're all safe. Nightmare's gone, and for good this time, as far as I can tell. I'm sure some other evil will show up someday, but when it does, we'll be ready._

_For we are Star Warriors and heroes, and it's our job to fight evil and Darkness wherever it appears._

_And so, dear Reader, I have only one more thing to say: May your days be full of Light, and may the Star Power guide you._

The End?

_Meta Knight said everything was peaceful in Dreamland while Sakura was gone, but that's not quite right. Find out the truth in "Heroes of Dreamland, Book 3: Nintendo World!"_


End file.
